The constitution of the colonial labor subject: Labor law in colonial India, 1881 to 1936

The Colonial project in India, which was based on the appropriation of an economic surplus, was given legitimacy with a discourse that spoke of the social, moral, and political redemption of the 'natives'. This discourse was grounded in an Orientalism--i.e., the Oriental as the subject and object of study--that constructed the Indian as the Other in opposition to the British. This oppositional discourse was extended to factory workers whose pre-capitalist work habits and attitudes were read as the 'traditionalism' of Indian 'agriculturalists'. In the early decades of factory production this construction justified the existing despotic production regime. However, by the turn of the century, and especially after the First World War when industrial production assumed an increasing importance in the colonial agenda, the colonial government sought to reconstitute factory workers as 'efficient' labor subjects. Moreover, with labors evolving consciousness which incorporated a distinct anti-colonial position, the colonial government sought to contain this threat. Law, which was the primary signifier of British dominance, thus became an instrument of reform and control.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• DeSousa, Valerian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wiley, N.

• History, Asia, Australia and Oceania
• Law
• Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1993 DeSousa, Valerian

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9314860
(UMI)AAI9314860

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/19567