ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature of class consciousness and political action amongst the labouring class, with particular reference to the influence of labour market divisions, mobility and gender. I shall argue that there were common class identities and solidarities despite the internal segmentation created by heterogeneity and mobility. These attitudes were exhibited by informal sector workers as much as formal ones and women as much as men. Moreover, class was more important than gender as the basis for women’s consciousness and action. This situation was underpinned by two factors: the unity of production and consumption within an overall situation of poverty and hardship, and the importance of the family in the struggle for livelihood and social progress. Despite this common consciousness, however, the labouring class was highly alienated from politics.
