The profitability of bonded labour

The gem-cutting industry in rural South India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2159062
AutoresKarin Kapadia (Durham University, autor de correspondencia)
Año1995
Volumen22
Número3
Páginas446-483
Fecha de publicación1995-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03066159508438583
OpenAlexW1972032020
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas17
Referencias 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