Book Review: New Subjects and New Governance in India
| Author | Ashutosh Kumar |
| Published date | 01 December 2013 |
| Date | 01 December 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2321023013509163 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
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This study is highly recommended. Teitelbaum uses a mixed-method approach, with a thoughtful use
of quantitative analysis, including a thorough consideration of alternative explanations. The general
thesis—that ensuring labour rights in a competitive democratic system results in more stable, coopera-
tive labour relations, while the exclusion of trade unions from the political process and the lack of legal
protections for workers will result in greater instability and violence—has concrete policy implications.
First, it can be argued with substantial evidence that India is not handicapping its economic growth with
protective labour legislation. Furthermore, returning to the example of Bangladesh, when in the wake of
the tragic Tazreen factory fire and the subsequent, far deadlier collapse of Rana Plaza, international
retailers began to consider shifting production to other countries, it became demonstrably clear that the
repression of organized labour was not only destabilizing (as the protests and riots of 2010 had amply
illustrated), but it was also bad for business. Strong labour representation would have empowered
workers to challenge unsafe working conditions, which might have averted these tragedies. Therefore,
countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka should establish comprehensive labour protections and
encourage, not repress, trade unionism in order to promote stability, investment and growth.
Jolie M.F. Wood
Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania (USA)
E-mail: jwood@allegheny.edu
Ranabir Samaddar and Suhit K. Sen, eds, New Subjects and New Governance in India. New Delhi: Routledge.
2012. 605 pages. ` 895.
DOI: 10.1177/2321023013509163
The essays of this volume are concerned with specifics of developmental model of governance in post-
colonial India, interrogating its interface with ‘popular claims, rights and justice’. The focus of the essays
is on recent India, widely viewed to be undergoing a process of...
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