In the Valley of Historical Time: Towards the History of the Working Class Movement in Delhi (Studies in Political Economy of Global Labor and Work, 04)

This book analyzes the crisis of working class movements in the age of globalization. It probes the new forms of working class organization and resistance emerging in this period, through the study of working class movements in Delhi, India, since the 1950s. The descent of working class movements that began with neoliberal globalization is nearing completion. However, the ascent is yet to begin. This period is witnessing novel forms of organization and resistance. For students, activists and academics, it is imperative to understand changes in the modus operandi of capital since the 1970s to explain the crisis of conventional trade unionism, as well as the spontaneous outbursts of creativity in movements of informal workers in recent times. Delhi has been a centre of such innovative experiments. In the Valley of Historical Time attempts to understand these new forms and strategies and possibilities of resurgence of working class movements. Contents Acknowledgments Tables Abbreviations Glossary of Indian Terms Introduction On the Question of Methodology The Trajectory of Indian Capitalist Development since Independence Evolution of Delhi as an Industrial City Capital, Labour and the Evolution of Industrial Relations Delhi Textile Workers’ Movement: Origin, Rise and Decline, 1950s–1990s Organizing the Unorganized – I: Almond Workers’ Struggle (2008–2013) and DMRC Contract Workers’ Struggle (2008–2016) Organizing the Unorganized – II: Wazirpur Steel Workers’ Struggle (2012–2015) In Lieu of a Conclusion Annex 1 Annex 2 Bibliography Index