Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India

Jan Breman (Universiteit van Amsterdam)

$161.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Cambridge University Press
15 August 2019

Asian history; Industrialisation & industrial history; Sociology: work & labour; Development economics; Economic history

Jan Breman takes dispossession as his central theme in this ambitious analysis of labour bondage in India's changing political economy from 1962 to 2017. When, in a remote past, tribal and low-caste communities were attached to landowning households, their lack of freedom was framed as subsistence-oriented dependency. Breman argues that with colonial rule came the intrusion of capitalism into India's agrarian economy, leading to a decline in the idea of patronage in the relationship between bonded labour and landowner. Instead, servitude was reshaped as indebtedness. As labour became transformed into a commodity, peasant workers were increasingly pushed out of agriculture and the village but remained adrift in the wider economy. This footloose workforce is subjected to exploitation when their labour power is required and is left in a state of exclusion when it is surplus to demand. The outcome is progressive inequality that is thoroughly capitalist in nature.

By: Jan Breman (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9781108482417
ISBN 10: 1108482414
Pages: 298
Publication Date: 15 August 2019
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jan Breman is Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, and Emeritus Professor at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He is the author of many publications, including Footloose Labour: Working in India's Informal Economy (1996), for which he was awarded the Edgar Graham Book prize by School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Reviews for Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India

Advance praise: 'From Jan Breman's lifetime of research with labour in Gujarat have come original concepts of patronage and exploitation, circular migration, footloose labour, neo-bondage, exclusion and expulsion from social rights and habitat - all now essential to our understanding of India's labour-force. In this tour-de-force, Breman synthesises the history of coercive debt, bondage and servitude, tracing its persistence from colonial roots to the present where tied and contingent labour underpins capitalism with Indian characteristics. Shabash.' Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford Advance praise: 'A masterful summing up of the six decades-long research of Jan Breman in and on India. The deep changes in the mode and manner of social exploitation and the failed promises of a sovereign state have been pursued by the author with a relentless critique of India's capitalist path while retaining a deep empathy for the labouring poor.' K. P. Kannan, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum `From Jan Breman's lifetime of research with labour in Gujarat have come original concepts of patronage and exploitation, circular migration, footloose labour, neo-bondage, exclusion and expulsion from social rights and habitat - all now essential to our understanding of India's labour-force. In this tour-de-force, Breman synthesises the history of coercive debt, bondage and servitude, tracing its persistence from colonial roots to the present where tied and contingent labour underpins capitalism with Indian characteristics. Shabash.' Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford `A masterful summing up of the six decades-long research of Jan Breman in and on India. The deep changes in the mode and manner of social exploitation and the failed promises of a sovereign state have been pursued by the author with a relentless critique of India's capitalist path while retaining a deep empathy for the labouring poor.' K. P. Kannan, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum