Writing Labour

Stone Quarry Workers in Delhi

In most globalizing economies, workers engaged in the informal sector occupy the lowest rungs of society. This book examines one such group—stone quarry workers located beyond the expanding rim of south Delhi and beneath the radar of effective law and policy. Drawing upon extensive case studies and personal narratives of this labouring class, Talib focuses on their inner world and interprets their life stories. He records the dwindling oral tradition of these people and brings to the fore the dynamics of survival. Questioning the discourse that views this group as passive objects, the book portrays them as active negotiators of their own circumstances. This work is crucial to an understanding of the current debates on labour and development studies. It presents the workers' story of social exclusion and struggle for survival, which is rarely heard amidst the counter narratives of the formal sector's economic boom.