Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India Jan Breman takes dispossession as his central theme in this ambitious analysisoflabourbondageinIndia’schangingpoliticaleconomyfrom 1962to2017.When,intheremotepast,tribalandlow-castecommu- nities were attached to landowning households, their lack of freedom was framed as subsistence-oriented dependency. Breman argues that withcolonialrulecametheintrusionofcapitalismintoIndia’sagrarian economy,leading toadecline intheideaofpatronage intherelation- ship between bonded labour and landowner. Instead, servitude was reshapedasindebtedness.Aslabourwastransformedintoacommod- ity,peasantworkerswereincreasinglypushedoutofagricultureandthe village,but remained adrift inthewider economy.The cohorts ofthis footloose workforce are exploited when their labour power is required and excluded when they are surplus to demand. The outcome is progressiveinequalitythatisthoroughlycapitalistinnature. jan breman is Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of many publications, including Footloose Labour: Working in India’s Informal Economy, for which he was awarded the EdgarGrahamBookprizebySOAS. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India Jan Breman UniversityofAmsterdam Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108482417 DOI:10.1017/9781108687485 ©JanBreman2019 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2019 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.Padstow,Cornwall. AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ISBN978-1-108-48241-7Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India Jan Breman takes dispossession as his central theme in this ambitious analysisoflabourbondageinIndia’schangingpoliticaleconomyfrom 1962to2017.When,intheremotepast,tribalandlow-castecommu- nities were attached to landowning households, their lack of freedom was framed as subsistence-oriented dependency. Breman argues that withcolonialrulecametheintrusionofcapitalismintoIndia’sagrarian economy,leading toadecline intheideaofpatronage intherelation- ship between bonded labour and landowner. Instead, servitude was reshapedasindebtedness.Aslabourwastransformedintoacommod- ity,peasantworkerswereincreasinglypushedoutofagricultureandthe village,but remained adrift inthewider economy.The cohorts ofthis footloose workforce are exploited when their labour power is required and excluded when they are surplus to demand. The outcome is progressiveinequalitythatisthoroughlycapitalistinnature. jan breman is Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of many publications, including Footloose Labour: Working in India’s Informal Economy, for which he was awarded the EdgarGrahamBookprizebySOAS. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India Jan Breman UniversityofAmsterdam Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108482417 DOI:10.1017/9781108687485 ©JanBreman2019 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2019 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.Padstow,Cornwall. AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ISBN978-1-108-48241-7Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Capitalism, Inequality and Labour in India Jan Breman takes dispossession as his central theme in this ambitious analysisoflabourbondageinIndia’schangingpoliticaleconomyfrom 1962to2017.When,intheremotepast,tribalandlow-castecommu- nities were attached to landowning households, their lack of freedom was framed as subsistence-oriented dependency. Breman argues that withcolonialrulecametheintrusionofcapitalismintoIndia’sagrarian economy,leading toadecline intheideaofpatronage intherelation- ship between bonded labour and landowner. Instead, servitude was reshapedasindebtedness.Aslabourwastransformedintoacommod- ity,peasantworkerswereincreasinglypushedoutofagricultureandthe village,but remained adrift inthewider economy.The cohorts ofthis footloose workforce are exploited when their labour power is required and excluded when they are surplus to demand. The outcome is progressiveinequalitythatisthoroughlycapitalistinnature. jan breman is Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of many publications, including Footloose Labour: Working in India’s Informal Economy, for which he was awarded the EdgarGrahamBookprizebySOAS. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:21, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Columbia University - Law Library, on 01 Jul 2020 at 15:59:21, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687485