UPSC MAINS SOCIOLOGY SYLLABUS
SECTION B – SOCIAL STRUCTURE
(iv) Social Classes in India:
(a) Agrarian class structure.
(b) Industrial class structure.
(c) Middle classes in India.
SECTION C – SOCIAL CHANGES IN INDIA
(iii) Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:
(a) Evolution of modern industry in India.
(b) Growth of urban settlements in India.
(c) Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
(d) Informal sector, child labour
(e) Slums and deprivation in urban areas.
INTRODUCTION
As M. Holmstorm puts it ‘people commonly refer to industrial workers, and sometimes other kind of wage-earners and self-employed workers, as the ‘working class’. Usually this means a group who share similar economic situation, which distinguishes them from others, like property owners, employers and managers. It suggests a common interest and shared consciousness of these interests’. This implies that like other classes the defining feature of working class is their understanding of ‘a common interest’ and ‘shared consciousness’. However, in recent times these two concepts have become difficult to actualise for the working class due to their own internal divisions and diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. “Working class” is a socioeconomic term used to describe persons in a social class marked by jobs that provide low pay, require limited skill, or physical labor. Typically, working-class jobs have reduced education requirements. Unemployed persons or those supported by a social welfare program are often included in the working class.
WORKING CLASS IN INDIA
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th was marked by the organised national movements and consolidation of the working class. The national movement, especially in Bengal and Maharashtra had already assumed a developed form which exerted a great impact on the later national awakening of the entire country. The partition of Bengal in the year 1905 aroused bitter public indignation and gave rise to mass national upsurge. This political development worked as a favorable condition for the Indian working class too for moving ahead with its economic struggles and raising them to a higher pitch. The period from the beginning of the century till the outbreak of the first world war was marked with widespread and dogged struggles of the workers which were not only economic struggles, but political struggles also. That is, these struggles led to the laying of the foundation of the first trade unions of the country. Moreover, the turn of the century was also marked by the advance in industrialization with concomitant swelling of the working class in numerical strength.
On the eve of the First World War, the capitalist development in India got accelerated. The government widely used the country’s industrial potential for the needs of war. In all these Indian bourgeoisie got opportunities to prosper. The main advantage accruing to Indian bourgeoisie during war were less competition from major imperialist powers, a large market for country made goods inside and outside the country, war contracts, relatively cheaper raw agricultural materials, lower real wages and higher prices of manufactured goods. But for the working class it was a tough time. This was because the soaring up of
prices reduced the living standards of working class. While rural areas were affected by the rise of prices of manufactured goods, the towns faced higher food prices. The expansion of industrialisation saw swelling of numbers of factory workers.
The government widely used the country’s industrial potential for the needs of war. In all these Indian bourgeoisie got opportunities to prosper. The main advantage accruing to Indian bourgeoisie during war were less competition from major imperialist powers, a large market for country made goods inside and outside the country, war contracts, relatively cheaper raw agricultural materials, lower real wages and higher prices of manufactured goods. But for the working class it was a tough time. This was because the soaring up of prices reduced the living standards of working class. While rural areas were
affected by the rise of prices of manufactured goods, the towns faced higher food prices. The expansion of industrialisation saw swelling of numbers of factory workers.
The years 1926-29 constitute an eventful phase of the working class struggle. During this phase the Indian communist movement stood on a firm foundation poised for advance. Communist influence on the working class movement was felt to be very strong. Large scale strikes were conducted during these years. Although the government tried to dub these strikes as ‘communist conspiracies’, these struggles, led by the communists in many cases were in fact, a sharp manifestation of the simmering discontent of a working class afflicted with crushing problems. Sharpening of struggles, side by side, acted to further widen the outlook of the working class and this was borne out by the very nature of its activities at both national and international levels.
The world economic crisis of 1931-36 was the most profound and destructive of all economic crises capitalism has ever known. It dealt a shattering blow to the economy, the political foundation and ideology of bourgeoisie and in total effect it further aggravated the general crisis of capitalism. In India the repercussion of this crisis was more fatal. India’s economy, where 80 percent of the people were dependent on agriculture came to a breaking point due to a fall in agricultural prices. The plight of the peasantry was beyond all imagination, their purchasing power came down to an all time low. In all industries there was mass retrenchment and wages were slashed. In other words, workers of all categories were hit. It is during these times that building up stiff resistance against the world economic crisis and its effect upon the working class were drastic.
The defeat of fascism and end of the World War II saw the emergence of the Indian working class as a highly organised, class conscious and uncompromising force against the colonialist. The upsurge of world democratic national liberation forces that followed had its impact in India too. An unprecedented and irresistible struggle for national liberation and democratic advance engulfed the country. Side-by-side the working class had to engage in sharp economic struggles.
As soon as India became independent, the political climate of the country changed. This was particularly so for the working class. That is, till Independence political and economic struggle of the working class was directed against the colonial masters. Moreover, it was a broad political front against imperialism where everybody from the national bourgeoisie to the working class rallied with one common objective. But with Independence began a new political dynamics, where power was in the hands of capitalists and landlords. Their economic interests were directly counter to those of the working class.
CONCLUSION
The working class at the conceptual level seems to be fairly simple, but if one tries to define it, the problem magnifies. The reason is that this is not a homogeneous entity. Rather it is a complex, contradictory and constantly changing entity. Another reason is that the concept of ‘class-consciousness’, is very slippery with regard to the working class. The consequence of this is that it is often proclaimed that either the working class is shrinking in size or everybody except a few at the top are working class. However the fact is that working class is a distinct entity, with characteristics of its own. In India, the situation is much more complex because of several reasons like, (a) the forced intrusion of British capital in India; (b) simultaneous existence of multiple relations of production; and (c) never ending identification of working mass with primordial features such as caste, religion and other ethnic divisions of the society.
