Author: Sweta
Author Affiliation: Research Scholar, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Abstract: This article explores the vulnerable conditions of informal labourers during the coronavirus induced lockdown. The lockdown brought the economy at a standstill across India. Millions of labourers lost their jobs which also forced them to return to their villages. Many vowed not to come back but do they have resources for subsistence in their homes? Drawing on secondary sources, this article argues that these labourers are being bound to their worksites. Modern capitalism has reconfigured the practices and forms of this bondage in the changing economic scenario.
Keywords: Neo-bondage, Informal Labour, Migration.