Local Wishes vs. Social Costs: The Karur Industrial District

Abstract

Karur district has been traditionally committed to the production of textiles. Nowadays the local economy totally depends on this mainly export-oriented sector. The production is organized on a sub-contracting basis and collective efficiency is obtained through the job-working system. The impact of the growing industrialization is strong. Many agriculturists are becoming entrepreneurs. But the economic loss caused by the decline of the agricultural sector seems to be offset by the gains of industrial development. The industrialization process has been providing full employment and, apparently, has generated widespread well-being, although labour is unorganized, with no guarantees except for the daily wages. The caste system is undergoing secularization. Industrialization is undermining the environment. The hypothesis of the research is as follows. The industrial development pattern offered by the `Industrial District Model' is defined as a local process; that is, not directly generated or influenced by external factors but rather by local cultural/historical factors. The sociological objective of the research is the analysis of Karur district's industrial development through the empirical use of the theoretical field of reference provided by Eisenstadt. Its analytical categories allow us to overcome the traditional dichotomy (namely tradition/modernity) of the prevailing modernization theories. The overall objective of the research is the analysis of the social and cultural impact of the industrial development. In order to reach the overall objective and to test the hypothesis of the research, two specific objectives have been fixed: 1) the analysis of the development process of the Karur district through the Industrial District Model; 2) the analysis of the impact of the market liberalization on the local society.