EMERGENCE OF WORKER’S MOVEMENTS IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA : ROOTED IN SOCIO-HISTORIC ANALYSIS OF PEASANT CONSCIOUSNESS

The paper aims to highlight the broad rubric of ‘old' social movements' viz. Peasant struggle and resistance that ultimately led to mark a pivotal role in the emergence of Worker's Movements in Contemporary India. The author tries to focus upon the instantaneous micro-mobilisation and individual protests that occur as a consequence of resistance among social actors (workers) and human agencies (owners/contractors). The peasant resistance in its aggregate effects initiates the process of the erosion of unjust structures of power and domination. Whenever the social conditions of relative deprivation and denial exist, resistance and concealed non-compliance are bound to emerge. ‘It is the existence of consciousness of injustice, deprivation and denial that moves the worker sections to resistance. A noteworthy fact is that studies on struggles of workers employed in the unorganized sectors are few and far between'. (Jaffrey1981, Kannan1988). They exhibit a lack of collective resistance mode through trade unions and strikes, for their social and economic rights. Moreover in this direction studies by Chandravarkar, Dipesh Chakrabarty deals with historical materialism which opens up new paradigms of understanding the ‘working class' and their struggles. Hence the author tries to explore such paradigms to comprehend struggles of the contemporary working class of India in the era of globalization marked by the socio-historic analysis of peasant movements occur in the past.