Indian Labour Journal

This book explores the effects of product market and labour market reforms on firms, labour institutions and labour rights in the economic and industrial relations system in India. India has over the years liberalized its economy through a broad range of reforms concerning the product market and complementing these it has also sought to reform the labour market and the industrial relations system. The book assesses the impact of these reforms on both the formal and informal labour markets in India, critically examines the labour processes and uncovers/describes precarious conditions of labour in various industries and occupations, and analyzes the dynamics involved in the making of industrial, employment and labour policies in contemporary India.

Analyses the dynamics of the capital-labour bargaining process in the context of the changing nature of the state and market as a result of the adoption of policies of liberalisation and globalisation in India. The analytical point of departure is the nature of collective bargaining in the organised sector of West Bengal since economic liberalisation.

The global capitalism has entered into a new and distinct phase, wherein liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (commonly called LPG) is a central theme. Almost every country, particularly the developing countries, are on the agenda of international monopolies and international financial capital which are controlled and regulated by the industrially developed nations. The vulnerable economies all over the world are being forced to liberalise their economies resulting in unfavourable balance of competitive forces on their side. Free trade rules are dismantling the ‘License Raj’ meant for business and industry under the dictate of global corporations. Market forces have been given once again a primacy to make the major economic decisions. “The free trade systems of small producers and poor consumers are being dismantled and being made illegal in order to create free trade systems for big business and global corporations.”1 All these have been the outcome of certain policy initiatives and developments that have taken place at the national and international level especially since the 1980s.

Compilation of articles on the research methods applied in India to study work matters - covers statistical methods used for the compilation of labour force and employment statistics, reviews research studies on wages, conciliation and arbitration procedures, social security, labour relations, labour productivity, occupational psychology, the economic implications of labour costs, etc. References.