000			01823pab a2200181 454500
008			180718b1999 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aHaan, Arjan de
245			_aThe badli system in industrial labour recruitment: manager's and worker's strategies in Calcutta's jute industry
260			_c1999
300			_ap.271-301
362			_aJan-Aug
520			_aThis paper discusses the system of badli' (substitute) labour in the jute industry of Calcutta. This is placed in the context of recent debates about the need for flexible labour markets, and against the background of the industry's deep crisis. The paper aims to contribute to these debates by analysing the way the system of badli labour has evolved. It argues against one-sided and anachronistic interpretations that isolate employers' strategies; examines the specific circumstances that gave the system its particular shape; and tries to restore agency - managers' as well as workers' - into the labour historiography. Four main arguments are put forward. First, a badli system existed before it became regulated. Second, there are few signs of an employer's strategy to create a system of badli labour - though they did use it to their advantage. Third, the badli system is not accompanied by a social segmentation of the population of the industrial area. Finally, the paper re-examines the link between the badli system and the form of migration predominant in this industry, arguing that circular migration is the result of a complex set of circumstances, including rural conditions and socio-cultural views regarding the mobility of women. - Reproduced
650			_aJute industry - India - West Bengal
650			_aLabour market - India - West Bengal
650			_aLabour market
773			_aContributions to Indian Sociology
909			_a42609
999			_c42609 _d42609