ABSTRACT The spread of the novel coronavirus that took over the world by a storm has caused a serious rupture in the social and economic order. As the Indian state is confronted by several challenges, the exodus of migrant labor appears as a gruesome spectacle. The already precarious lives of migrant labor owing to their employment in the informal economy has been amplified manifold with the outbreak of the pandemic. The eclipsed response of the state to acknowledge their misery has further exacerbated the problem. Since the state is entrusted with the responsibility of providing social security to the labor in the informal economy- a component that is also deemed necessary to be fulfilled by those the state seeks to govern, the pandemic has rendered the question of state’s legitimacy to be probed further. Defined as the capacity and the right to rule, the legitimacy of the state is analyzed from the perspective of the effective provision of social security schemes as well as the expedition/suspension of labor rights. While the state may possess the capacity to provide for social security, and it certainly does as is evident from its boisterous declarations of fiscal stimulus’ for labor welfare, it is argued that the state’s blatant lack of willingness to translate its promises into concrete action puts the “right to rule” aspect under scrutiny and its legitimacy under jeopardy.

中文翻译：

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（重新）访问国家的合法性：COVID-19 和印度的移民劳工

【摘要】：新型冠状病毒席卷全球,造成社会经济秩序严重破裂。由于印度政府面临多项挑战，移民劳动力的外流似乎是一个令人毛骨悚然的景象。由于在非正规经济中就业，农民工本已岌岌可危的生活随着疫情的爆发而倍增。国家承认他们的苦难而黯然失色的反应进一步加剧了这个问题。由于国家被赋予了为非正规经济中的劳动者提供社会保障的责任——这也是国家寻求治理的人认为必要的组成部分，因此大流行使国家的合法性问题有待探讨更远。将国家的合法性定义为统治的能力和权利，从有效提供社会保障计划以及扩大/暂停劳动权利的角度分析国家的合法性。虽然国家可能拥有提供社会保障的能力，而且从其喧嚣的财政刺激声明中可以明显看出它确实有能力提供劳工福利，但有人认为，国家公然缺乏将其承诺转化为具体行动的意愿使受到审查的“统治权”方面及其合法性受到威胁。