Domestic workers and the challenges of collectivization: labor NGOs, neighborhoods, apartment complexes

Rajesh Joseph (), Balmurli Natrajan () and Roshni Lobo ()
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Rajesh Joseph: Azim Premji University
Balmurli Natrajan: Azim Premji University
Roshni Lobo: Azim Premji University

DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, 2019, vol. 46, issue 2, No 3, 99-109

Abstract: Abstract This paper is a critical commentary on the organizational challenges for collectivization of domestic workers (DWs) who constitute a core part of India’s informal economy. Building upon field research among DWs working in a mega-city and in multiple homes, we explore three challenges—the transformation of labor NGOs to ‘unions,’ the ‘place’ of the union and the ‘place’ of the worker in organizing DWs. While the first challenge deals with the form of the collective that best enables the transformation of subjectivity and consciousness of DWs from ‘servant’ to ‘worker,’ the latter two emerge from the structure of work of DWs—the fact that they are dispersed among multiple employers, and the possibilities offered by large apartment complexes for DW unions to work in concert with the state to guarantee worker rights.

Keywords: Domestic workers; Labor NGOs; Informal sector workers union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/s40622-019-00211-y

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