The profitability of bonded labour

The gem-cutting industry in rural South India

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2159062
AutoresKarin Kapadia (Durham University, autor correspondente)
Ano1995
Volume22
Fascículo3
Páginas446-483
Data de publicação1995-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03066159508438583
OpenAlexW1972032020
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas17
Referências citadas11

The system of debt bondage in the gem-cutting industry of South India is considered. Evidence is examined from intensive field work in villages in Tamilnadu, and one large village in particular, which has been a major centre in the synthetic gem-cutting industry for 70 years. It is argued, against various authors, that here bonded labour is not a pre-capitalist relation of production. Rather, it is part of a dynamic, capitalist small-scale industry that is rapidly expanding into global markets. Moreover, since 1990 a dramatic change is noted in part of the industry: the introduction of semiautomatic machinery, with which a new product (the American diamond) is made. This has led, inter alia, to the displacement of women workers. The profits earned by employers, the nature of relations between employers and workers, and especially the use of kinship ideology, and the relevant inter-connections are explored

Business · Capitalism · Debt · Economics · Economy · Ideology · Kinship · Labour economics · Market economy · Political science · Politics · Product (mathematics · Production (economics · Profitability index · Work (physics · Engineering · Law · Political Economy and Marxism