Tag: labour matters

“Where is the working class? It’s all over the world today”: Jairus Banaji in conversation with Sheetal Chhabria and Andrew Liu

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

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Book review: The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921

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

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Defend Iranian Labour Leader Parvin Mohammadi

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

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Tansy Hoskins – "They left us starving": How the fashion industry abandoned its workers

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

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Shekhar Pathak: A hundred years ago, a fiery speech in Uttarakhand escalated the protests against forced labour

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

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Subir Sinha: COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India

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

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History from below: What shaped the thought of E P Thompson, the great historian of ordinary working people? By Priya Satia

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

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