​“Between ​‘Bakshseesh’ and ​‘Bonus’: Precarity, Class, and Collective Action among Domestic Workers in Bengaluru,”

Joseph, R and Natrajan, B and Lobo, R (2018) ​“Between ​‘Bakshseesh’ and ​‘Bonus’: Precarity, Class, and Collective Action among Domestic Workers in Bengaluru,”. [Publications (Pre-joining)]

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Abstract

How is class experienced by domestic workers when they come together for collective action? Using ethnographic data, this paper argues that the collective action efforts by some unions of domestic workers in Bengaluru to demand “bonus” reveals the struggles over class that they engage in, struggles that make them conscious of their in-between class status as self-employed workers in a precarious informal economy. The collective action of demanding bonus in Bengaluru entails a cultural–political struggle away from a gift economy relationship and towards a more commodified economy under conditions of precarity in the informal economy.

Item Type:	Publications (Pre-joining)
Authors:	Joseph, R and Natrajan, B and Lobo, R
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Domestic service, Domestic workers Bonus, Diwali bonus, Households, Middle class families, Precariat Class, Trade unions, Mobilisation
Subjects:	Social sciences > Economics Social sciences > Economics > Labor economics
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Arts and Sciences
Full Text Status:	Restricted
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/6610
Publisher URL:	https://www.epw.in/journal/2018/45/special-article...

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