On “De-industrialization” and the Crisis of Male Identities

Abstract

The last two decades in India have seen the decline of traditional factory industries and a growing process of informalization and casualization of labour. The crisis of industries like textiles and steel has meant a virtual decimation of a working class in old industrial centres. This paper will look at the phenomenon of de-industrialization and its implications for a labouring population whose lives were intimately connected with industrial work.