Tools and Ideas: The Beginnings of Local Industrialization in South Gujarat, 1970-2000

This book is a study of industrial development and labour relations in south Gujarat, western India.  The empirical findings presented are based on long-term intensive anthropological fieldwork covering a period of 30 years, from 1970 to 2000.  The book provides an in-depth analysis of the different phases of industrialization in one of the most industrialized regions of India, covering both the period of planned development and that of the more recent phase of economic liberalization.  It describes the transformation of a predominantly rural area into an industrial belt by giving a detailed account of the owners and workers in small scale factories.  Economic success in this part of India has been accompanied by structural poverty among a large part of the population.  Entrepreneurial spirit has gone together with a worsening of labour conditions, among them erosion of the rights of the labour force.  In various respects, developments in south Gujarat, as described in this book illustrates the contradictory model of development and deprivation in India.  Providing a long-term perspective on industrial development, this book will be essential reading for those engaged in the study of rural development, entrepreneurship, labour relations, and social change in India.