For centuries trade of exotic Eastern goods reached the markets of the Mediterranean Europe, Africa and Turkey. The very first ‘product’ – if we can call it that – were the slaves of the Punjab. Besides some gold, the most profitable product in the loot of the Turkish-Afghan invader, Mahmud of Ghazni, were slaves. In… Read More Majid Sheikh – Harking Back: Lahore’s ancient slave trade and the Aleppo connection
NB: Democratic rights are not presented to us on a platter by managements, howsoever liberal they portray themselves to be. Professor Rajendran Narayanan’s experience is evidence of that; as well as of the truism that our access to the justice and fair-play is directly linked to our socio-economic status. That is why workers, and even… Read More Rajendran Narayanan: What I learnt about power and privilege when I quit Ashoka in 2016 / Yogendra Yadav: No one is asking the right questions about Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s ouster from Ashoka University
Women in India making children’s clothes for H&M have spoken out about widespread sexual violence they claim to have faced at one of the company’s suppliers in India. The allegations come just weeks after the body of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 21-year-old Dalit garment worker, was found in a field close to her family home after she failed… Read More Annie Kelly: Female workers at H&M supplier in India allege widespread sexual violence
The following conversation took place in December 2020. On the occasion of Jairus Banaji’s latest publication, A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism, Sheetal Chhabria and Andrew B. Liu spoke to contextualize his work within a multi-decade trajectory of history, theory, and labor organization, across Europe and Asia. We noted the particular significance of an original intervention… Read More “Where is the working class? It’s all over the world today”: Jairus Banaji in conversation with Sheetal Chhabria and Andrew Liu
The Allied victory in the First World War was won on the back of the labour of non-combatant ‘coolies’, whose deployment allowed for swift mobilisation across fronts. A new book narrates the story of their struggles on the battlefields and of their neglect. Radhika Singha, The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921… Read More Book review: The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921
Parvin Mohammadi needs support from labor activists and feminist activists around the world. During all these years of struggle, she has never separated the labor struggle from women’s struggles for their rights. On December 21, 2020, the Iranian government sentenced Parvin Mohammadi, in absentia, to a year in prison on charges of “sedition.” She has refused… Read More Defend Iranian Labour Leader Parvin Mohammadi
In 2019 the fashion industry generated $2.5trn in global revenues, making it one of the largest industries in the world. But when COVID-19 struck in 2020, it virtually collapsed. Exports of raw materials from China began to slow in January last year, and subsequent lockdowns around the world meant shoppers stayed at home, retailers shuttered stores, and… Read More Tansy Hoskins – "They left us starving": How the fashion industry abandoned its workers
This month marks the centenary of a remarkable (and successful) peasant protest in Uttarakhand. The British had inherited from native maharajas a system of forced labour known as begar, which they imposed on the peasantry. Under this system, villagers were compelled to carry the loads of British officials and European travellers, and also provide them… Read More Shekhar Pathak: A hundred years ago, a fiery speech in Uttarakhand escalated the protests against forced labour
Numerous news outlets and activist groups in India have reported an increase in trafficking, bonded labour, and slave-like working conditions in the past weeks. The two main stories were the rescue of young boys from a basement bangle factory in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the rescue of young girls from sex work and domestic servitude. Instead of seeing increases in trafficked… Read More Subir Sinha: COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India
In 1976, a momentous six-week visit to India during the Emergency under Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi pivotally fuelled the vehemence of his scathing essay ‘The Poverty of Theory’ (1978) and undid his usual embarrassment about his father. On arrival, EP was warmly welcomed in acknowledgment of his father’s friendship with the late prime minister Nehru. He put… Read More History from below: What shaped the thought of E P Thompson, the great historian of ordinary working people? By Priya Satia
After the truth-shower 