Tag: labour matters

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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