Changing World of Work and Rural Diversification

Abstract

In India, as in most of the global South, the capitalist transition during the post–World War II era has unfolded in a manner by which labor absorption has not been commensurate with the growth of output in the non-agricultural sectors. For India, there is strong evidence to suggest that the employment elasticity of output has declined in most sectors during much of the so-called reform period. Furthermore, the transfer of agricultural workers to non-agricultural sectors has been largely driven by distress—particularly those of the self-employed, who still account for a lion’s share of employment in the country. This article engages with some of the crucial issues pertaining to the conceptualization of rural “diversification”, situating the increasingly complex rural–urban circuits within the larger architecture of contemporary capitalism. A large proportion of the total workers, especially in the global South, are caught in these circuits as proto- or semi-proletariats, often perambulating ceaselessly between rural and urban. Through the lens of the Marxian political economy, this article highlights some of the relevant tendencies and changes connected with contemporary circuits of accumulation and the associated patterns of rural diversification with a special focus on the last two decades.