ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a background to the central theme of ‘Insecurity Hypothesis’. The nature, history, processes of globalization and the resulting trends in the labour markets in leading OECD countries like Britain, United States, and Japan are reviewed over the last two decades of the twentieth century. The chapter reviews the Insecurity Hypothesis in the Indian context on the basis of sample study evidence, the impact of the liberalization and restructuring process on the labour market in India after 1991. It deals entirely with globalization and restructuring, discusses trends in unemployment and insecurity thereof and summarises common long-term symptoms of restructuring in OECD countries. The process of globalization led by the MNCs and their domestic counterparts tends to lead to more homogenized production processes, technology, management systems, organization and product mixes across the world regardless of local factor endowment. The chapter outlines the background in post-liberalization India, and describes economic reforms and their impact on labour.
