CALL FOR PAPERS - Eleventh International Conference on Labour History
CALL FOR PAPERS
Eleventh International Conference on Labour History
Organized by ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN LABOUR HISTORIANS
and V.V. GIRI NATIONAL LABOUR INSTITUTE
21-23 MARCH 2016
V.V. GIRI NATIONAL LABOUR INSTITUTE, NOIDA/New Delhi, INDIA
The Theme:
Workers, Labour and Mediation
Mediation as a broad category, applies to the predicament of
workers and the phenomenon of labour almost universally. It may be approached
via the simple observation that the relation between workers and capitalists is
rarely direct, that it requires mediation at every step, from recruitment to
political representation. Mediation does not merely link two opposed social
groups or interests but sometimes the mediating element rises above and
exercises power over the extremes- the case in point is the role played by the
modern state in capitalist society. The issue of mediation generates important
sociological and theoretical questions about class relations in general .
What are
the various forms of mediation, and why is it necessary? How have forms of
mediation – that marks labour’s relation with society –changed over time? What
social strata perform mediatory roles, and what, in turn emerges as a
‘mediatory interest’ when they become a stable social-economic force? How do
workers deal with the phenomenon of mediation, and how do they negotiate with
the people engaged in mediation? How do political ideologies subsume labour in
their representational function? Such questions can provide themes for many
agendas of research, and enrich our understanding of labour history.
We invite
scholars to investigate the following themes, with a focus on the concept of
mediation
1. Mediation and the labour process
Setting the work process in motion and thereafter keeping it
functional involves several kinds of mediation. These begin with mediated
recruitment; and carry on into various forms of supervision and methods of
disciplining the workforce. Each of these involved complex activities which
throw up interesting questions. How are the recruiters themselves recruited?
How do they achieve their goals, what kind of transactions accompany the
process? Are recruiters themselves workers - do gang-leaders in mining, for
example, perform tasks of recruitment and supervision?
What are the mediations
through which relations between workers, recruiters, foremen, headmen, and
contractors are articulated? How do gang leaders represent worker’s interests,
and how are these interests perceived and articulated? How does recruitment
operate in particular contexts: for instance, in densely populated cities with
a large floating population of casual workers? Supervision calibrates the work
process, standardizes the rhythms and pace of work according to the demands of
capital. How do different practices of supervision, different regimes of work
and discipline emerge? Who performs the task of disciplining? How are
disciplinary practices contested? What are the norms through which ‘informal’
regimes of work are disciplined and regulated?
2. Political mediation Various forms of political
mediation are important to the way in which individual labour emerges as a
social category– with specific interests and collective political presence. We
need to examine the arguments, assumptions and historical processes whereby
labour emerges as a designated social interest. How does the state mediate the
interest of labour, and how do class interests manifest themselves in state
policy? What role do major state institutions such as the police and judiciary,
labour courts, labour inspectors and other regulatory structures of various
kind play in mediating class interest? By what process of mediation are
workers’ demands articulated?
What role do trade unions play in this process?
Trade unions often emerge organically, and many also make political choices in
the firmament of existing political factions. Is a micro-history of this
process possible? How do unions form and disintegrate? Can we study other modes
of representation, such as strike and factory committees or even mutual aid
societies? What are the forms through which ‘contract’ workers, home-based
workers or those in small establishments organize and represent their
interests?
It is a commonplace that the labour movement played a major role in
the emergence of democracy. Moreover, entire schools of political thought have
adopted sympathetic, instrumentalist and even hegemonic stances towards the
so-called ‘short term interests’ and/or the ‘historic destiny’ of the working
class. Can these schools of thought be understood as attempts at ideological
mediation between the interests of labour and the interests of capital speaking
as the universal interest?
What do interventions by politically affiliated unions
signify – may these be analysed within the theoretical frame of mediation?
Historically political parties have played an important role in giving labour a
public presence. Conversely their shifting interests have also meant a
shrinking space of labour in the political arena. Why do political parties take
up the interests of labour at all? What happens when they do so - in residential
areas and in the workplace? Do workers perceive class interest directly, or is
this mediated via concepts of the national interest?
3. Law and Mediation Within bourgeois society all
relations between individuals are mediated by law. Individuals become citizens
with specific rights, are subjected to law, and their conduct and actions are
bounded by law. Relations between capital and labour are mediated by specific
laws, the lives of labourers are regulated by law, and their claims and
obligations are framed by law. We need to explore how law comes to mediate all
labour relations – the forms of this mediation and the limits to this
mediation. Why are specific forms of labour designated as legal/illegal? How
are the changing needs of capital incorporated within law, sanctioning specific
forms of exploitation and control as acceptable and legitimate? How do we read
the specific histories of labour legislations and unpack the languages of law
that define the structures of legal regimes within which workers labour.
4. Social Mediation Workers rarely see themselves or
are seen by the society or state simply or even primarily as workers. They
often are caught up in a web of mediated social relations that emanate from interalia
their position in the household, neighbourhood, as gendered beings and as
members of religious and caste groups and as citizens of nation state . In what
ways then are worker’s identity mediated through specific social institutions?
In what contexts do labouring identities coexist, contest or are overwhelmed by
these forms of mediations?
How have war and sectarian conflicts affected
labouring identities and institutions of labour movement? How do workers relate
to religion? Has the noticeable shift in public religiosity – from emotional or
existential sustenance to a badge of identity affected the working class? Does
the concept of mediation apply at all when we speak of religion and its impact
on the working class.
5. Cultural
Mediation It will be important to explore how culture and cultural
mediations shape and transform labour and its representations. Workers live
within a world of representations. Newspapers, televisions, images, films mediate
the relations between workers and the wider society. Workers see themselves
through these images, question as well as affirm these images, see the world
through these images. The wider society sees workers through these images.
Within the modern world of spectacle, representations appear as a constitutive
mediator, shaping workers lives and visions of the world.
We need to unpack these representations that mediate the
worlds of labour. What are the ways in which they mediate? What are the limits
to these mediations? How are counter images produced and circulated? How do
people receive the mediating images, affirm their sanctity or question their
validity? What does this tell us about public opinion and its manipulation? We
invite papers from scholars, activists, and individuals who have engaged
intimately with the world of labour and work to participate in this conference.
International and comparative experiences will be especially welcome. We will
also welcome papers on the pre-colonial and pre-modern and contemporary
historical experiences. While the conference organizers will be able to host
all the selected participants for the duration of the conference we are unable
to finance international travel costs.
Submission of papers: A short abstract of no more
than 500 words of the proposed paper indicating the main arguments and
theoretical and empirical basis of the proposed paper is to be submitted
electronically to the address: <ailhconference2016@gmail.com>
We expect abstracts
to be sent to us by 15 August 2015
Selected participants will be
informed by 15 September 2015
Full Papers are expected without
fail by 20 January 2016
All communications must be addressed to
Chitra Joshi,
Rana
Behal,
Prabhu Mohapatra and
Sasikumar - at this address: <ailhconference2016@gmail.com>
