Chapter 5 Change And Development In Industrial Society

Images Of Industrial Society

Workplaces like Mumbai's film industry illustrate that industrialization is not just about factories but also encompasses service sectors and creative industries. Like traditional industries, these modern workplaces involve organized labor (unions for dancers, stunt artists, extras) advocating for rights (e.g., 8-hour shifts, proper wages, safe conditions).

The products of these industries are distributed and consumed through various channels (film distributors, cinemas, music shops), connecting producers to markets. The people involved in these industries, while sharing a common urban space, experience significant social stratification based on their position and income (e.g., film stars vs. extras, living in different city areas, consuming different goods). Despite divisions, they may also share common experiences and aspirations within the city.

Work is a fundamental part of identity. Changes in technology and the availability of specific types of work transform social relationships. Conversely, existing social structures like caste, kinship, gender, and region influence how work is organized, who does what jobs, and how goods are marketed. Sociologists are particularly interested in these intersections, investigating why certain jobs are predominantly held by particular groups (e.g., women in nursing vs. engineering) and how societal perceptions of gender roles shape occupational segregation.

Early sociologists like Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim studied the emergence of industrialisation. They identified key social characteristics associated with it:

• Urbanisation: People moving from rural areas to cities for work.
• Shift in Social Relations: Moving from familiar, face-to-face relationships found in rural or traditional workplaces to more anonymous, professional interactions in large factories.
• Detailed Division of Labour: Work becoming highly specialized, with individuals often producing only a small part of a larger product.
• Repetitive and Exhausting Work: Industrial jobs often involve monotonous tasks, though having work, even repetitive, is preferable to unemployment.

Karl Marx described the situation where workers become disconnected from the product of their labor, the process of production, their fellow workers, and their own human potential as alienation. Work becomes merely a means of survival, and even that depends on whether technology still requires human input.

Industrialisation can lead to increased social equality in some public spaces (e.g., reduced caste distinctions in public transport). However, pre-existing forms of discrimination (based on caste, gender) may persist in new industrial settings. Furthermore, while social inequalities might change form, economic or income inequality can grow, often overlapping with social divisions (e.g., upper-caste men dominating high-paying professions; women earning less than men for similar work).

Industrialisation In India

India's experience with industrialisation shares some similarities with Western models but also presents significant differences, indicating there's no single global blueprint for industrial capitalism.

Specificity of Indian Industrialisation

A key difference lies in the distribution of the workforce across economic sectors. Unlike developed countries where the majority are in services, followed by industry and a small percentage in agriculture:

• In India (2018-19 data), a large proportion of the workforce (nearly 43%) remains in the primary sector (agriculture and mining).
• The secondary sector (manufacturing, construction, utilities) employs around 17%.
• The tertiary (services) sector employs approximately 32%.

Despite agriculture employing the largest segment, its contribution to the economy has sharply declined, while the services sector contributes significantly more (over half). This creates a critical situation where the majority of workers are in a sector that generates low incomes.

Another major difference is the prevalence of formal, salaried employment. In developed nations, most workers are formally employed. In India (2018-19):

• Over 52% of workers are self-employed.
• Only about 24% are in regular salaried employment.
• Approximately 24% are in casual labour.

This highlights the small size of the 'organised' or 'formal' sector (units employing 10+ people, registered, providing benefits) in India, where over 90% of work is in the 'unorganised' or 'informal' sector.

The limited size of the organised sector has significant social implications:

• Limited exposure for most workers to large, formal workplaces where interactions might cut across regional or social backgrounds. Most work still occurs in small settings dominated by personal relationships.
• Lack of job security and benefits for the vast majority. A significant portion of those with secure, salaried jobs are in government employment, explaining its high desirability. Most workers lack pension benefits and may depend on their children in old age.
• Reduced experience with collective bargaining and unionization, common in the organised sector. Unorganised sector workers are often subject to the arbitrary decisions of employers or contractors, despite regulations.

Government employment has historically played a role in fostering interaction and potentially reducing distinctions based on caste, religion, and region.

Globalisation, Liberalisation, And Changes In Indian Industry

Since the 1990s, India's adoption of liberalisation policies has brought major changes to its industrial landscape. Liberalisation involves encouraging private sector investment (including foreign firms), reducing regulations, and opening markets to foreign goods. This has led to:

• Entry of private and foreign companies into sectors previously reserved for the government (e.g., telecom, aviation, power).
• Removal of industrial licensing requirements.
• Increased availability of foreign products in the market.
• Acquisition of Indian companies by multinational corporations (e.g., Coca-Cola buying Parle drinks).
• Simultaneously, some Indian companies are becoming multinational themselves.

The expansion of large-scale retail by domestic and international players poses a threat to small neighbourhood shops and traditional markets.

Disinvestment (government selling its shares in public sector companies) is another aspect. Concerns exist about potential job losses following privatisation, as seen in the case of Modern Foods where a significant percentage of workers faced forced retirement.

A major trend is the reduction of permanent employees by companies and the increasing practice of outsourcing work to smaller firms, contractors, or even home-based workers. For MNCs, this happens globally, leveraging cheaper labor in countries like India. Smaller firms face intense competition for orders, leading to low wages and poor working conditions, making unionization difficult. Outsourcing and contracting are growing across sectors, including government, but are most pronounced in the private sector.

While the service sector and urban middle class are growing, few Indians have access to secure jobs. Even regular salaried employment is becoming less stable due to contract labor. Government employment, a traditional source of security and well-being, is also decreasing. This trend of liberalisation and privatisation is often linked to rising income inequality globally.

Concurrently, government policies of land acquisition for industries often displace people, particularly farmers and Adivasis (who make up a disproportionately large percentage of those displaced). These new industries may not provide jobs for the displaced, forcing them into casual labor and poor living conditions in urban areas. This highlights the conflict between industrial development and the interests of marginalized communities.

How People Find Jobs

Contrary to formal processes, only a small fraction of people in India secure jobs through advertisements or employment exchanges. Personal contacts and networks play a crucial role in finding work, particularly for the self-employed (plumbers, electricians, tutors, freelancers) who rely on reputation and word-of-mouth. Mobile phones have significantly eased this process for many, expanding their network and reach.

In factory settings, historical recruitment patterns involved contractors or jobbers (known as mistris in Kanpur mills). These jobbers, often from the same community as the workers, acted as intermediaries, wielding power due to management backing but also facing community pressures. While the influence of jobbers has declined, recruitment is now often influenced by management and unions, sometimes leading to workers expecting jobs to be passed down within families. Many factories utilize badli workers (substitutes for permanent staff), who may work for years without gaining permanent status or security – a form of contract work in the organised sector.

Employment opportunities are broadly categorized into:

1. Jobs in organisations (casual wage labor or regular salaried).
2. Self-employment.

The contractor system is particularly prominent in hiring casual labor for sectors like construction and brickyards. Contractors recruit workers from villages, often providing advances (including transport costs) that tie workers in debt, requiring them to work without wages until the loan is repaid. While still involving debt, this differs from traditional agricultural labor where workers were bound by social obligations to landlords. In industrial casual labor, workers might have slightly more freedom to seek other employers, despite the debt bondage. Entire families sometimes migrate, with children assisting parents. Government schemes like MUDRA, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and Make in India aim to boost employment and self-employment, supporting various social groups and leveraging India's demographic dividend.

How Is Work Carried Out?

The actual execution of work varies greatly across India, from highly automated large companies to small-scale, home-based production. Understanding how work is performed involves examining the relationship between management and workers and the impact of technology.

Managers fundamentally seek to control workers to increase production. This can be achieved by extending working hours or increasing intensity within a given time. Machinery aids productivity but poses the threat of replacing human labor. Both Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi recognized mechanisation's potential to cause unemployment.

In traditional industries like textile mills, workers sometimes felt like mere extensions of machines, requiring constant focus and strenuous effort to keep pace with multiple machines (Box 5.1 quotes Ramcharan). Gandhi opposed the 'craze for machinery' that displaces workers, advocating instead for technologies like the spinning wheel ('charkha') that provide work for all and prevent exploitation (Activity 5.2 quotes Gandhi).

Increased mechanisation reduces the number of employees, but those remaining must work at the machine's demanding speed. In modern factories, stringent work schedules, limited breaks, and high production targets (e.g., Maruti Udyog) can lead to early exhaustion among workers. Companies often reduce permanent jobs and rely on outsourcing and 'just-in-time' production (parts arriving only as needed). While this lowers costs for the company, it creates tension for workers who must rush to meet targets and face potential delays. Outsourcing is prevalent across sectors, including IT.

In the services sector, even in roles considered 'knowledge-based' or requiring creativity, such as IT, workers can be subject to intense pressure and surveillance reminiscent of traditional industrial labor processes (sometimes compared to 'Taylorism' or scientific management). Long working hours and overtime are common, driven by project deadlines, time differences with international clients, and management practices like 'flexi-time' that, in practice, demand working until tasks are completed (Box 5.1). This intense work culture can impact daily life, influencing factors like shop opening hours and childcare arrangements (requiring family support like grandparents).

There's a debate about whether industrialisation and the rise of knowledge-based work increase overall skill levels in society. Comparing the skills of a farmer with deep knowledge of agriculture to those of a software professional highlights that skills are diverse and context-specific. Sociologist Harry Braverman argued that mechanisation can actually deskills workers by automating tasks previously requiring human expertise (e.g., computer-aided design replacing manual drafting skills for architects/engineers).

Working Conditions

Access to basic necessities like power, housing, and goods relies on human labor, often performed under difficult conditions. Despite laws intended to regulate working conditions and ensure safety, these regulations are not always effectively implemented, particularly in smaller workplaces.

The mining sector provides a stark example of hazardous working conditions. Coal mines alone employ a large workforce. Legislation like the Mines Act 1952 sets standards for working hours, overtime pay, and safety. While observed in larger companies, these rules are often violated in smaller mines and quarries. Widespread sub-contracting allows many contractors to evade responsibility for workers by not maintaining proper records, particularly concerning accidents and benefits. Environmental regulations requiring companies to restore mined areas are also often ignored.

Workers in underground mines face severe dangers including flooding, fires, roof collapses, gas emissions, and ventilation failures, leading to chronic health problems like breathing difficulties, tuberculosis, and silicosis. Overground mining involves risks from weather, blasting, and falling objects. India has a significantly higher rate of mining accidents compared to many other countries.

In many industries, a significant portion of the workforce consists of migrants. Fish processing plants, for instance, often employ young single women who live in cramped conditions. They are sometimes seen by employers as more compliant. Many male migrants also live alone, leaving families behind in villages. These migrant workers often experience limited social interaction outside their migrant community, contributing to feelings of loneliness. However, for young women, such work can also represent a degree of independence and economic autonomy.

Home-Based Work

Home-based work is a significant, though often invisible, part of the economy, involving the production of goods like lace, zari, carpets, bidis, and incense sticks. This work is predominantly performed by women and children.

Typically, an agent provides raw materials to home workers and collects the finished products. Workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, meaning their earnings depend on the quantity of items produced rather than hours worked. This system often results in low wages and lacks formal employment benefits.

The bidi industry illustrates this structure: villagers collect tendu leaves, selling them to contractors/forest department. Bidi factory owners buy these leaves and supply them along with tobacco to home-based workers (mostly women). These workers perform the laborious process of rolling bidis. Contractors then collect the finished bidis and sell them back to manufacturers, who brand and distribute them through a complex chain involving distributors, wholesalers, and local shops. This complex process highlights the network of intermediaries and the labor provided by often marginalized home-based workers.

Strikes And Unions

Workers often resort to **strikes** (refusing to work) in response to harsh working conditions. Conversely, management may implement a **lockout** (preventing workers from entering the workplace). Strikes are difficult decisions for workers due to potential loss of wages and management's ability to use substitute labor. Maintaining a strike requires significant resilience and resources.

The Bombay Textile Strike of 1982 is a notable example, involving a quarter of a million workers demanding better wages and the right to form their own union. Led by Datta Samant, the strike lasted nearly two years. Eventually, desperation forced many workers back to work. The strike resulted in approximately 100,000 workers losing their jobs, leading them to return to villages, seek casual labor, or move to smaller powerloom towns. Meanwhile, mill owners, who had not invested in modernization, sought to sell mill lands for real estate development, highlighting a conflict over the future of the city and the legacy of its working class.

Trade unions are crucial for workers in the organised sector to collectively bargain for rights and improved conditions. However, in the large unorganised sector and in smaller firms, unionization is more challenging, leaving workers more vulnerable to exploitation.