Labour Contractors and Global Production Networks: The Case of India’s Auto Supply Chain

Barnes, Tom; Das, Krishna Shekhar Lal; Pratap, Surendra

doi:10.1080/00220388.2014.983908

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…In the NCR case, this process not only helps the employer increase profits by lowering costs, but is generally pursued to "manage industrial relations in an orderly manner" (Deshpande et al, 2004: 85). This trend is confirmed by Barnes, Lal Das and Pratap (2015), who show how the widespread adoption of a contract labour system in the NCR not only allows firms to reduce costs, but ultimately works as a strategy of labour control in which collective bargaining and trade union rights are frequently denied. Indeed, as it also emerges through our survey findings, we see the rooted practice of remunerating casual workers with wages much lower than those paid to their permanent counterparts (see Table 1).…”

Section: Figure 6: Contract Workers In Indian Organised Manufacturingsupporting

confidence: 50%

Where Lean May Shake: Challenges to Casualisation in the Indian Auto Industry

Monaco

2017

GLJ

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By analysing the industrial conflict that has affected the Indian Maruti Suzuki since 2011/2012, the article reflects on the meaning of the lean manufacturing paradigm today. It explores what continues to make it dominant, and the ultimate frontiers it has reached. It argues that its global significance could not have been established without the exploitation of local labour regimes, and without stretching their competitive advantage to the detriment of workers. In particular, the desirable condition now sought at global level is the possibility of relying on regimes based on high levels of casualisation, allowing the progressive "substitution" of permanent workers. However, as the Maruti case also reveals, working-class composition and the sustainability of the local labour process can generate mechanisms and unexpected alliances that could potentially destabilise the system. Indeed, the case shows how corporate strategies intended to fragment and depoliticise labour, inbuilt into the paradigm, were directly challenged and encountered resistance. Ultimately, though, the case also shows how, without strong legal and political support, the potential of a labour movement can be suffocated by institutionalised violence. In this sense, lean reacts, and the despotic imposition of consent becomes visible as never before.

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Section: Figure 6: Contract Workers In Indian Organised Manufacturingsupporting

confidence: 50%

Where Lean May Shake: Challenges to Casualisation in the Indian Auto Industry

Monaco

2017

GLJ

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“…Global estimates suggest that India has the highest levels of informal/informalized labour (ILO, ; ILO and WTO, ). Labour informalization is rampant, also inside factories or more ‘formal’ production spaces (Srivastava, ), and has quickly spread to a number of capital‐intensive industries, like cars (Barnes et al., ; Monaco, ) and steel (Parry, ). The Indian case confirms how labour informalization should be understood as a twofold process involving both the subsumption of informal economic activities into wider economic circuits, and the spread of informal labour relations across supposedly ‘formal’ production realms (NCEUS, ; Srivastava, , ).…”

Section: Non‐factory ‘Classes Of Labour’ In India: Multiple Forms Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mezzadri¹,

Fan²

2018

Development and Change

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This 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.

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“…However, this clustering is more concentrated in a few areas than in China, partly because its domestic automotive market is less developed and also because of poor transport infrastructure in most parts of the country. The dominant clusters exist near Chennai, Tamil Nadu (southeast India); in the Chakan Special Economic Zone near Pune, Maharashtra (western India); and in the National Capital Region (NCR) surrounding New Delhi (Barnes et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Auto Industry Industry Policy and Institutions In Asia’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Industry policy in Asia’s demographic giants: China, India and Indonesia compared

Barnes

2017

Econ. labour relat. rev.

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The experience of industry policy in the wider Asian region contrasts significantly with many of the neoliberal policy prescriptions prevalent in Australia today. Using the automotive industry as a comparative case study, this article compares industry policy in three demographic and geographic giants of the region: China, India and Indonesia. China’s dominant position has benefited from a highly ‘interventionist’ industry policy which places strict conditions on foreign carmakers in joint ventures. This policy has also influenced the emergence of a thriving domestic industry, with state-owned enterprises leading the way. While India has also emerged as a major auto producer, its industry policy has moved away from the joint venture model since the 1990s, with fully foreign-owned operations now playing a much bigger role. In contrast, Indonesia retains a version of the joint venture model while local industry is dominated by Japanese capital. The record of industry policy in these countries challenges the idea that more ‘liberal’ economic systems lead to stronger domestic industries or firms.

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Labour Contractors and Global Production Networks: The Case of India’s Auto Supply Chain

Cited by 27 publications

References 15 publications

Where Lean May Shake: Challenges to Casualisation in the Indian Auto Industry

Where Lean May Shake: Challenges to Casualisation in the Indian Auto Industry

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

Industry policy in Asia’s demographic giants: China, India and Indonesia compared

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