Industry and inequality : the social anthropology of Indian labour

This pioneering study in the field of industrial anthropology focuses on the uneasy relationship between permanent 'organized sector' and temporary 'unorganized sector' workers in India. Does India indeed have a dual economy and society, in which these two groups of workers, only one side enjoying the protection of Factory Acts and trade unions, regard themselves and act as distinct classes with opposed interests?

Drawing upon his own extensive fieldwork amongst Indian workers, employers and unionists, and on his familiarity with the anthropological and sociological literature, Dr Holmström strives to come to a better understanding of the thoughts and actions of the workers and the wider economic and political aspects of their situation. He uses a wide range of material, from the opinions and life stories of workers to accounts of recent union movements in the 'unorganized sector', and contributes critically to the debate on 'dualism' and its underlying assumptions.

Through a subtle and sensitive combination of empirical material with theoretical analysis, Mark Holmström challenges accepted generalizations about the processes of development. He puts forward a model for understanding industrial development which can be applied in other cultural contexts, and, for the first time, establishes an historical and theoretical framework for the study of industrial labour in India.

With the general reader as well as the specialist in mind, the author presents his arguments in clear, jargon-free language. Although written within the discipline of social anthropology, this book will be of considerable interest to students and workers in the areas of development studies, sociology, economics and industrial and labour history.