Work

Failure of formalization: State protection of employer interests and consequences for domestic workers' organizing in India

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the demand for, creation and ultimate failure of a legislation aimed at formalizing domestic workers in Mumbai, India. The paper is based on an analysis of parliamentary discussions on the legislation process and ethnographic fieldwork with diverse groups of domestic workers undertaken between 2014 and 2021. I critique the claim that formalization policies are merely ill‐suited to the norms or complexities of domestic work. Instead, I argue that formalization fails because the state drafts laws that actively protect the interest of domestic workers' employers, rather than domestic workers. In drafting a piece of legislation that creates no obligations on employers and offers few immediate benefits to workers, I locate its failure in the context of widespread labor deregulation and a shrinking formal sector in India. Crafting such a law, the state plays a partisan role and stems the momentum of further domestic worker organizing in Mumbai.

Source: Anthropology of Work Review

DOI: 10.1111/awr.12276

Author: Maansi Parpiani

Institution: University of Copenhagen

Language: English

Topic: Labor Law and Work Dynamics

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Decent work and economic growth, Gender equality

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Københavns Universitet, Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond