Industrial Workers and the Formation of ‘Working-Class Consciousness’ In India

Abstract

According to Karl Marx, the capitalist (private contolled) form of production can be transformed into the socialist form by the instrument of 'working-class consciousness'. This consciousness implies a form of self-realisation by the workers to establish a just and egalitarian social order. By using Michael Mann's model of 'working-class conscoiusness', this article argues that the Indian working class has achieved most of the attributes of 'class consciousness', and lacks only with regard to sustainability and momentrum