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        Indian garment workers and the struggles for decent work: an analysis on workers' agency & embedded power structures

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        Final MSc thesis.pdf (3.727Mb)
        Publication date
        2020
        Author
        Morandi, C.
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        Summary
        As a consequence of outsourcing processes of global firms, individuals in the Global South are increasingly involved in global value chain dynamics. However, individuals’ inclusion in the labor force does not always equate to improved well-being and empowerment. In fact, precarious working conditions have been at the center of heated debates, involving scientists, experts and activists. The Indian garment sector serves as an illustrative case for discussing workers’ ability to exercise agency and on the structural elements enabling or hindering the said agency. The research aims to answer the following question: “How is garment workers’ agency in India shaped by individuals’ socioeconomic factors?”. By means of a mixed methodology, including primary interview data and secondary data from systematic literature review, this research finds that agency of workers in India is exercised in acts of resilience and acts of reworking. Garment manufacture workers are the most vulnerable actors in a factory, due to their low bargaining potential, the interchangeability of their work, the lack of legal protection and the power abuse by authorities, both within the factory and at a larger scale. Amongst all manufacture workers, some are subjected to worse discrimination in their workplace and within society, due to their socio-economic background, their religion and the type of production organization structure. Lastly, interventions by global firms and the Indian government for improving workers’ conditions have been mostly futile, due to the business-state partnerships founded on accumulation of capital and power. This thesis concludes that institutional decision-making pose structural obstacles to acts of resilience, unionization and ultimately to improved working conditions of garment manufacturers. Given the recent mass layoffs and unpaid orders by leading fashion firms, further research is suggested to assess the consequences of Covid-19 pandemic on the power relations across the value chain.
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        https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/39240
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