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The afterlife of industrial work: Urban-to-rural labour transitions from the factory to the informal economy

Author

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  • Alessandra Mezzadri
  • Kaustav Banerjee

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated processes of labour transition from industrial work to the informal economy, which have always characterized the life of the working poor. Exploring urban-to-rural labour transitions through a feminist political economy lens and adopting a life-cycle approach to labour and social reproduction, this paper analyses the post-industrial livelihoods and experiences of former Indian garment workers leaving the National Capital Region and moving back to Bihar.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandra Mezzadri & Kaustav Banerjee, 2021. "The afterlife of industrial work: Urban-to-rural labour transitions from the factory to the informal economy," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-158, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-158
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-158-afterlife-undustrial-work-urban-rural-labour-transitions-factory-informal-economy.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cowan, Thomas, 2018. "The urban village, agrarian transformation, and rentier capitalism in Gurgaon, India," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89699, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sara Stevano & Alessandra Mezzadri & Lorena Lombardozzi & Hannah Bargawi, 2021. "Hidden Abodes in Plain Sight: the Social Reproduction of Households and Labor in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 271-287, April.
    3. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2016. "Class, gender and the sweatshop: on the nexus between labour commodification and exploitation," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1877-1900, October.
    4. Breman, Jan, 2013. "At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198090342.
    5. Stephanie Ware Barrientos, 2013. "'Labour Chains': Analysing the Role of Labour Contractors in Global Production Networks," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1058-1071, August.
    6. Mezzadri,Alessandra, 2017. "The Sweatshop Regime," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107116962, August.
    7. Jeemol Unni & Suma Scaria, 2010. "Government Structure and Labour Market Outcomes in Garment Embellishment Chains," Working Papers id:3061, eSocialSciences.
    8. Dibyendu Maiti & Kunal Sen, 2010. "The Informal Sector in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Amrita Datta & S. Irudaya Rajan, 2024. "Internal Migration and Development in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 18(1), pages 7-19, April.

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