Failure of formalization: State protection of employer interests and consequences for domestic workers' organizing in India

Maansi Parpiani*

*Corresponding author for this work

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1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the demand for, creation and ultimate failure of a legislation aimed at formalizing domestic workers in Mumbai, India. The paper is based on an analysis of parliamentary discussions on the legislation process and ethnographic fieldwork with diverse groups of domestic workers undertaken between 2014 and 2021. I critique the claim that formalization policies are merely ill-suited to the norms or complexities of domestic work. Instead, I argue that formalization fails because the state drafts laws that actively protect the interest of domestic workers' employers, rather than domestic workers. In drafting a piece of legislation that creates no obligations on employers and offers few immediate benefits to workers, I locate its failure in the context of widespread labor deregulation and a shrinking formal sector in India. Crafting such a law, the state plays a partisan role and stems the momentum of further domestic worker organizing in Mumbai.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnthropology of Work Review
Volume45
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)100-109
Number of pages10
ISSN0883-024X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Anthropological Association.

Keywords

  • domestic work
  • employer
  • formalization
  • India
  • Mumbai

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