Abstract
Drawing on the experiences of three grassroots organisations / unions that mobilize women workers in the informal sector in a South Indian state, this chapter explores the solidarity-based ties and social bonds these organizations have forged. It traces the struggles and campaigns by which women workers organize to defend their livelihoods, constitute themselves as the subjects of rights and press claims vis-à-vis state actors and private employers. The chapter reflects on the challenges of building women’s leadership within mixed-sex organisations and forging solidarities across caste-based differences. It dwells on the strengths and limitations of the volunteerism that drives autonomous (non-party affiliated) and community-based organisations. It discusses how these organisations have influenced public policies on the welfare and social reproduction-related needs of women informal workers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
About one-third of the construction workforce in Tamil Nadu consists of women workers (Source: Interview with R. Geetha, founding member of KTPS).
- 2.
The Tamil Nadu government classifies caste groups as SCs, MBCs and OBCs in decreasing order of social oppression, discrimination and deprivation. Policies of affirmative action directed at these caste groups include reservations in public sector employment and higher education.
- 3.
The village panchayat is the lowest unit of a three-tiered structure of elected local self-government in India. The Grama Sabha is the body consisting of all adults whose names are included in the electoral rolls of the village panchayat. Grama Sabha meetings are required to be held a minimum of four times in a year in Tamil Nadu.
- 4.
This is the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 (http://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A2014-7.pdf).
- 5.
The Vanniyars are a numerically significant backward caste group in the Northern districts of Tamil Nadu. A Vanniyar dominant party the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has mounted aggressive campaigns denouncing inter-caste marriages involving Dalit men and Vanniyar women.
References
Agarwala, R. (2013). Informal labor, formal politics, and dignified discontent in India. Cambridge University Press.
Geetha, R. (1996). A struggle within a struggle: The unionisation of women in the informal sector in Tamil Nadu. In M. Carr, M. Chen, & T. Jhabvala (Eds.), Speaking out: Women’s economic empowerment in South Asia. IT Publications.
Government of Tamil Nadu. (n.d.). Benefits given by the unorganised workers welfare boards. http://www.labour.tn.gov.in/Labour/tnmanwork.jsp. Accessed 28 November 2018.
Harvey, D. (2003). The new imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Kabeer, N. (2010). Gender and social protection strategies in the informal economy. Routledge.
Kabeer, N., Milward, K., & Sudarshan, R. (2013). Introduction. Beyond the weapons of the weak: Organizing women workers in the informal economy. In N. Kabeer, R. Sudarshan, & K. Milward (Eds.), Organizing women workers in the informal economy: Beyond the weapons of the weak. Zed Books.
Polanyi, K. (1957). The great transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. Beacon Press.
PRS. (n.d.). The Tamil Nadu Manual Worker (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work) Act, 1982. Laws of India: A Project of PRS Legislative Research. http://www.lawsofindia.org/pdf/tamil_nadu/1982/1982TN33.pdf. Accessed 28 November 2018.
Sassen, S. (2010). A savage sorting of winners and losers: Contemporary versions of primitive accumulation. Globalizations, 7(1–2), 23–50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kalpana, K. (2021). Forging Solidarities: Women Workers in the Informal Sector in Tamil Nadu. In: Verschuur, C., Guérin, I., Hillenkamp, I. (eds) Social Reproduction, Solidarity Economy, Feminisms and Democracy. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71531-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71531-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71530-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71531-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)