Abstract
The basic proposition of the chapter is that to appreciate better the impact of the present phase of globalization on labour rights in India, it is necessary to locate the analysis in the larger context of the labour rights regime as it evolved at the international level. The evolution of labour rights is linked to certain historic epochs in capitalist globalization. The earlier phases of development of capitalism (right from the mid-nineteenth century up to the end of the so-called Golden Age by late 1970s) witnessed a clear recognition and progressive consolidation towards constitutionalization of labour rights by strengthening the capacity of the ILO. The present phase of globalization not only witnessed radical reorganization of industry from the Fordist mass production to dismantling and geographically distributing the units of production through global production networks, but also softening of the labour rights regime at the international level by the 1998 Declaration of the ILO which is seen as moving towards voluntarism. In the light of these developments the chapter analyses the nature of integration of the Indian economy into the global economy, its impact on the quality of employment, the change by way of shift in the attitude of all the wings of the state and the dilution of regulatory machinery towards labour rights. The chapter traces several disturbing trends in the industrial relations system like weakened countervailing forces like unions, the growing pressure of capital for more and more flexibility in labour regulatory system, the eagerness of the states to appease capital, weakening of labour rights regime and so on. Given the voluntarism at the international level, the solution cannot but be mobilization of labour for assertion of their rights. The translation of ‘Decent Work’ and ‘Social Protection Floor’ through mobilization of labour cutting across formal-informal barrier holds some glimpses of hope.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alston, Philip. 2004. “‘Core Labour Standards’ and the Transformation of the International Labour Rights Regime”, European Journal of International Law, 15(3): 457–521. http://www.ejil.org/article.php?article=359&issue=21. Accessed on 14 October 2018.
Bhattacharya, Saumyajit. 2008. “The Changing Discourse of Neo-Liberal Labour Reforms: From Labour Suffering Temporarily for Transition to Labour Creating the Obstacles to Transition”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 51(4): 576–586.
Berg, Janine. 2015. “Labour Market Institutions: The Building Blocks of Just Societies”, In Labour Markets, Institutions and Inequality, Janine Berge (ed.), Geneva: Edward Elgar Publishing and International Labour Office.
Carnoy, Martin. 1999. “The Family, Flexible Work and Social Cohesion at Risk”, International Labour Review, 138(4): 411–429.
Chandra, Navin. 2009. “Labour Rights and Working Poor”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 52(3): 471–488.
Chen, Martha, Jennifer Sebstead, and Lesley O’Connell. 1999. ‘Counting the Invisible Workforce: The Case of Home-based Workers”, World Development, 27(3): 603–610.
Ciminelli, G., Romain Duval, and Davide Furceri. 2018. “Employment Protection Deregulation and Labour Shares in Advanced Economies”, IMF Working Paper WP/18/186, International Monetary Fund, Washington.
de Jonge, Alica. 2004. “Global Economic Forces and Individual Labour Rights: An Uneasy Coexistence”, Human Rights and Human Welfare, 4: 107–118.
Deshpande, L.K., Alakh N. Sharma, Anup K. Karan, and Sandip Sarkar. 2004. Liberalisation and Labour: Labour Flexibility in Indian Manufacturing, New Delhi: Institute for Human Development.
Dutta, Sahil Jai. 2018. Financialisation: A Primer, Amsterdam: Transnational Institute.
Elson, D. 1999. “Labour Markets as Gendered Institutions: Equality, Efficiency and Empowerment Issues”, World Development, 27(3): 611–627.
Fudge, Judy. 2010. “Constitutional Labour Rights in Europe”, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Australia. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1557587. Accessed on 1 October 2018.
Ghose, Ajit K. 2008. “Globalisation and Employment in Developing Countries”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 51(4): 497–504
Ghose, Ajit K. 2016. India Employment Report, New Delhi: Institute for Human Development, and Oxford University Press.
Hobsbawm, Eric. 1995. The Age of Empire 1875–1914, New Delhi: Viking India.
Howell, David R., Dean Baker, Andrew Glyn, and John Schmitt. 2007. “Are Protective Labour Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment? A Critical Review of the Evidence”, Capitalism and Society, 2(10): 1–77.
Institute for Human Development (IHD). 2014. India Labour and Employment Report 2014: Workers in the Era of Globalisation, New Delhi: Academic Foundation and Institute for Human Development.
International Labour Organisation ILO. 1996. World Employment 1996–97: National Policies in a Global Context, Geneva: International Labour Organization.
ILO. 1998. Report VII: Consideration of a Possible Declaration of Principles of the ILO Concerning Fundamental Rights and Its Follow Up Mechanism, 86th International Labour Conference, Geneva: ILO.
ILO. 1999. Report of the Director General: Decent Work, 87th International Labour Conference, Geneva: ILO.
ILO. 2004. A Fair Globalisation: Creating Opportunities for All, World Commission on Social Dimension of Globalisation, Geneva: ILO.
ILO. 2013. Global Wage Report 2012/13, Geneva: ILO.
ILO and World Trade Organisation (WTO). 2009. Globalisation and Jobs in Developing Countries, Geneva: ILO and WTO.
Islam, R. 1996. “Economic Reforms, Employment and Labour Market in South Asia”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 39(3).
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 2018. ITUC Global Rights Index, https://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-global-rights-index-2018. Accessed on 25 October 2018.
Jaumotte, F., and C. Osorio Buitorn. 2015. Inequality and Labour Market Institutions, IMF Staff Discussion Note, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1514.pdf. Accessed on 28 October 2018.
Kannan, K.P., and G. Raveendran. 2009. “Growth Sans Employment: A Quarter Century of Jobless Growth in India’s Organised Manufacturing”, Economic and Political Weekly, 44(7): 80–91.
Kucera, David, and Dora Sari. 2018. “New Labour Rights Indicators: Method and Trends for 2000–2015”, International Labour Review (Forthcoming).
Langille, Brian A. 2005. “Core Labour Rights – The True Story (Reply to Alston)”, The European Journal of International Law, 16(3): 409–437.
Mezzadri, A. 2012. “Reflections on Globalization and Labour Standards in the Indian Garment Industry: Codes of Conduct Versus ‘Codes of Practice’ Imposed by the Firm”, Global Labour Journal, 3(1): 40–56.
Mishra, Lakshmidhar. 2001. “Can Globalisation and Labour Rights Coexist?” The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 44(1): 3–14.
Mishra, Lakshmidhar. 2012. “History of Labour Rights”, Social Change, 42(3): 335–357.
Morton, A.L., and George Tate. 1956. The British Labour Movement 1770–1920: A History, London: Lawrence and Wishar.
Munk, Ronaldo P. 2002. Globalisation and Labour, India: Madhyam Books.
Munk, Ronaldo P. 2010. “Globalization and the Labour Movement: Challenges and Responses”, Global Labour Journal, 1(2): 218–232.
Nathan, Dev. 2013. “Industrial Relations in a Global Production Network: What can be done”, Economic and Political Weekly, 48(30): 29–33.
Nathan, Dev. 2018. “Imperialism in the 21st Century: Global Value Chains and International Labour Arbitrage”, Economic and Political Weekly, 53(32): 33–39.
Nathan, Dev, and Anna Posthuma. 2009. “Implications of Global Production for Indian Firms and Labour: An Introduction”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 52(4): 557–564.
Nathan, Dev, and Sandip Sarkar. 2011. “A Note on Profits, Rents and Wages in Global Production Networks”, Economic and Political Weekly, 46(36): 53–57.
Opromolla, Adriana. 2007. “Enhancing Labour Rights in a Globalised World: A Comparative Transatlantic Perspective”, CRIDHO Working Paper 2007/4, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
Papola, T.S. 2005. “Workers in a Globalising World: Some Perspectives from India”, Paper presented at the Conference on “Globalisation and Labour Mobility in India and China”, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 29–30 September 2005.
Papola, T.S. 2012. “Labour Rights in Globalising India”, Paper presented at National Seminar on “Globalisation, Labour Markets and Employment Relations in India”, Mumbai University, Mumbai, 9–10 July 2012. http://www.isleijle.org/T.S.%20Papola.ppt. Accessed on 2 November 2018.
Papola, T.S., and Jesim Pais. 2007. “Debate on Labour Market Reforms in India: A Case of Misplaced Focus”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 50(2): 183–200.
Papola, T.S., Jesim Pais, and Partha Pratim Saha. 2008. Labour Regulation in Indian Industry: Towards a Rational and Equitable Framework, New Delhi: Bookwell.
Papola, T.S., and K.P. Kannan. 2017. Towards an India Wage Report, ILO Asia-Pacific Working Paper Series, New Delhi: ILO.
Reddy, D. Narasimha. 2003. “Economic Globalisation, Past and Present: The Challenges to Labour”, In Globalisation and Its Discontents, Revisited, Jomo K.S. and Jin Khoo Khay (eds.), New Delhi: SEPHIS & Tulika.
Reddy, D. Narasimha. 2005. “Challenges of Decent Work in the Globalising World”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 48(1): 3–17.
Reddy, D. Narasimha. 2008. Labour Regulation, Industrial Growth and Employment: A Study of Recent Trends in Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi: Bookwell.
Reddy, D. Narasimha, K.N. Harilal, and J. Jayaranjan. 2008. Understanding WTO: A Media Toolkit, Kathmandu: Panos South Asia and Chennai: Institute for Development Alternatives.
Reddy, D. Narasimha, and J. Jeyaranjan. 2013. “Globalisation, Labour and Employment in India”, In Globalisation and Labour in South Asia, D. Narasimha Reddy (ed.). Kathmandu: Panos South Asia and Chennai: Institute for Development Alternatives.
Risse, Mathias. 2008. “A Right to Work? A Right to Leisure? Labour Rights as Human Rights”, Faculty Working Paper Series, RWP07-058. J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A.
Rodgers, Gerry. 2005. “The Patterns of Globalisation and Some Implications for the Pursuit of Social Goals”, Available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=908191 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.908191. Accessed on 20 October 2018.
Sengupta, Anil K. 2003. “Decline of Trade Union Power in India”, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 46(4): 685–701.
Shyam Sundar, K.R. 2005. “Labour Flexibility Debate in India – A Comprehensive Review and Some Suggestions”, Economic and Political Weekly, 40(22–23): 2274–2285.
Shyam Sundar, K.R. 2011. “Employment Relations in India in the Post-Reform Period: Positives, Challenges, and Opportunities”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 54(1): 89–111.
Shyam Sundar, K.R. 2012a. “Essential Services Maintenance Act: ‘Globalisation Logic’ at Work”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 47, No. 21, 10–12.
Shyam Sundar, K.R. 2012b. “Contract Labour in India: Battle between Flexibility and Fairness”, In Contract Labour in India: Issues and Perspective, K.R. Shyam Sundar (ed.), New Delhi: Daanish Books and Indian Society of Labour Economics.
Shyam Sundar, K.R. 2014. “Labour Rights and Globalisation in India: Challenges for the Trade Union Movement in India”, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 57(2): 317–328.
Silver, B.J., and Giovanni Arrighi. 2000. “Workers North and South”, In Working Class and Global Realities, L. Paritech and C. Leys (eds.), London: Merlin Press.
Spector, Horacio. 2006. “Philosophical foundations of Labour Law”, Florida State University Law review, 33(4): 1119–1148.
Srivastava, Ravi, and A. Naik. 2017. “Growth and Informality in Indian Economy”, In Labour and Development: Essays in Honour of Prof. T.S. Papola, K.P. Kannan, R.P. Mamgain, and P. Rustagi (eds.), New Delhi: Academic Foundation.
Standing, Guy. 1999. Global Labour Flexibility: Seeking Distributive Justice, London: Macmillan.
Standing, Guy. 2003. “Human Security and Social Protection”, In Work and Well-being in the Age of Finance: Muthukadu Papers, Jayati Ghosh and C.P. Chandrasekhar (eds.) I, New Delhi: Tulika,
Stiglitz, J.E. 2002. “Employment, Social Justice and Social Well-being”, International Labour Review, 141(1–2): 9–29.
Thomas, H., E.A. Ramaswamy, Amrita Chacchi, and M. Hendriks. 1995. “Three Highly Differentiated Trajectories”, In Globalisation and Third World Trade Unions: The Challenge of Rapid Economic Change, H. Thomas (ed.), Delhi: Madhyam Books.
Tokman, Viktor E. 1992. “On Freeman’s Paper”, In Proceedings of the World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics 1992, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 2018. World Investment Report 2018, Geneva: UNCTAD.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1996. Human Development Report, 1996, New York: UNDP.
van der Hoven, Rolph. 2010. “Labour Markets Trends, Financial Globalization and the Current Crisis in Developing Countries”, DESA Working Paper No. 99, The Hague: Institute of Social Studies.
World Bank. 2013. World Development Report 2013, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Reddy, D.N. (2019). Labour Rights in Globalizing World and India. In: Shyam Sundar, K.R. (eds) Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7110-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7111-0
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)