عنوان

The architecture of production and labour control in the Indian garment industry :

شماره

TLets528973

عنوان اصلي

The architecture of production and labour control in the Indian garment industry :

نام عام مواد

[Thesis]

نام نخستين پديدآور

Mezzadri, Alessandra

عنوان اصلي به قلم نويسنده ديگر

informalisation and upgrading in the global economy

نام ناشر، پخش کننده و غيره

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

تاریخ نشرو بخش و غیره

2009

جزئيات پايان نامه و نوع درجه آن

Ph.D.

کسي که مدرک را اعطا کرده

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

امتياز متن

2009

متن يادداشت

This thesis explores how production and labour structures in developing regions aredeployed within globalised production systems. Its broad aim is to show that, in the ageof neoliberal globalisation, labour is not the 'natural' comparative advantage ofdeveloping economies. On the contrary, this study shows that its subjugation to the globalcapitalist logic takes place within a complex architecture of production, which ischaracterised by no less complex patterns of labour control. It further shows that thesepatterns of control increasingly rely on informal structures and mechanisms, and on whatis now known as the process of 'informalisation' of labour. Crucial to realise laboursubjugation, this process is a fundamental component of upgrading into the globaleconomy for local exporters in developing regions. Inspired by insights coming from theinternational political economy, this thesis argues that this process of informalisation canbe conceptualised as the ultimate manifestation of the convergence of different 'labourunfriendlyregimes' (see Silver and Arrighi, 2000) working at multiple levels and scales.These regimes aim at 'disengaging' with labour, preventing the formation of an'industrial citizenship' (see Standing, 2007). This argument is applied to the case of theIndian export-oriented garment sector, which is indeed characterised by a very complexarchitecture of production, where different industrial trajectories are today subsumed intothe global economy, and where, according to sectoral aggregate data (see Rani and Unni,2004), a process of informalisation seems to be de-facto at work. In this case, this studyshows, the process of convergence between different labour-unfriendly regimes acquiresdistinct sectoral, national and local features, linked to the logics of 'global' garmentproduction, to the progressive rise of the anti-labour stance of the Indian state, and to the functioning principles of the vast world ofIndia's infonnal economy. The distinct waysin which the process of infonnalisation unfolds on the ground in India in the sector underscrutiny, and their implications for industrial upgrading, is the main empirical question ofthis thesis, and constitutes the empirical backbone of this narrative. This narrative isinfonned by fieldwork carried out in India between October 2004 and July 2005. Duringthis period, eight gannent producing centres were identified and studied. These centresare Delhi, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruppur and Mumbai. Theanalysis of production and labour structures in the eight centres studied, which focuseswith particular emphasis on gannent exporters' strategies of cost minimisation and labourcontrol, reveals complex local architectures of production in the industry in question. Aspart of this, local processes of infonnalisation of labour unfold through context-specificmodalities. These are linked to the evolution of local product specialisation, which, on itspart, is shaped by the interplay between regional political economy trajectories and theirinsertion into specific final segments of the global market. These modalities may entailthe sUbsumption of the infonnal economy into the so-called global gannent commoditychain, the incorporation of infonnal workers into some segments of the chain, or even thecreation of new practices challenging the distinction between fonnal and infonnalproduction realms. The same modalities entail the strategic use of combinations ofdifferent infonnal social structures and structural differences, such as gender, age,mobility, and/or geographical provenience. By exploiting different combinations of thesestructures and differences, Indian gannent exporters attempt to 'resolve' and 'dissolve'their struggle with labour and realise industrial upgrading, reproducing theirincorporation into the global economy. Although very distinct and locally-specific, these different local modalities of informalisation all lead to a same outcome; they splinter,segment and fragment labour, and prevent the formation of a homogenous working class.In their great empirical variability, they all illustrate how interplays between different'labour-unfriendly regimes' effectively unfold on the ground.

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Mezzadri, Alessandra

مستند نام تنالگان تاييد نشده

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

نام الکترونيکي

فرمت انتشار

p

نوع ماده

[Thesis]

کد کاربرگه

276903

سطح دسترسي

a

تكميل شده

Y