ABSTRACT

India ranks fifth in the global garment exports. The bedrock of this export industry are poorly paid, migrant women and men. Marked by high rate of exploitation and precarious employment, garment workers are often perceived as a dispossessed lot without any means to resist their exploitation. What possibilities remain within this narrative to make room for everyday politics and resistances? Looking at the individual and collective struggles of garment workers in two southern Indian states, this article highlights the everyday organizing strategies of women resisting their ‘disposibility'. Specifically, the article draws attention to women's life stories to demonstrate what can be learnt from them about the conditions under which to imagine, and come to, build labour unions. The article contributes to the critical feminist scholarship on global factories by explicating the tension between the need to illuminate the extent of exploitation and the urgency of drawing attention to women’s stories.

摘要

印度在全球服装出口中排名第五。这个出口行业的基石是收入微薄的移民女性和男性。以高剥削率和不稳定就业为标志，服装工人往往被视为被剥夺的土地，没有任何手段抵抗他们的剥削。在这种叙述中还有哪些可能性可以为日常政治和抵抗腾出空间？本文着眼于印度南部两个邦的制衣工人的个人和集体斗争，强调了女性抵制她们的“可支配性”的日常组织策略。具体而言，这篇文章提请注意妇女的生活故事，以展示可以从她们那里学到关于想象和建立工会的条件。