‘Classes of Labour’ at the Margins of Global Commodity Chains in India and China

Alessandra Mezzadri,Lulu Fan

doi:10.1111/dech.12412

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article deploys the concept of ‘classes of labour’ to map and compare non‐factory labour relations in the garment chain across Delhi and Shanghai metropolitan areas. It contributes to commodity studies by unpacking the great complexity of mechanisms of ‘adverse incorporation’ of informal work in global commodity chains and production circuits. Field findings reveal the great social differentiation at work in informalized settings in the two countries, and suggest that while the margins of garment work are characterized by high levels of vulnerability, they may also open up new possibilities for workers to resist or re‐appropriate some degree of control over their labour and reproductive time. While these possibilities depend on regional trajectories, informal labour arrangements do not only result from capital's quest for flexibility. Workers actively participate in shaping their own labour geography, even when exposed to high employment insecurity. The conclusions more broadly discuss the merits of comparative analysis to study labour in global production circuits.

Highlights

This article maps realms of production and labour relations in non-factory segments of the garment industry in India and China: in the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi, and the Greater Shanghai Region (GSR)
We find a tier of garment employers owning large factories with direct access to final markets, either through global buyers/manufacturers or via an increasing number of Indian buying houses/retailers
Our findings indicate that work insecurity is extremely high across all non-factory realms of production, despite many workers engaging in activities upon which the NCR region has built a specific competitive advantage

Summary

Introduction

This article maps realms of production and labour relations in non-factory segments of the garment industry in India and China: in the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi, and the Greater Shanghai Region (GSR). Our findings indicate that work insecurity is extremely high across all non-factory realms of production, despite many workers engaging in activities (like embroidery) upon which the NCR region has built a specific competitive advantage.

Results

Conclusion