ABSTRACT
Capital-labour dynamics remains the most intriguing relationship in any workplace. The economic reforms in the early 1990s in India have had a direct impact on production and distribution networks in the gold industry. The changes in the production regime are associated with the expansion of local markets and the integration of the Indian economy with the world economy. These changes forced a restructuring of the labour market. The traditional caste-based occupation has altered, resulting in minute specialization and division of labour. When the organization of work changed, migrant workers became crucial inputs, who provided capital with a readily available reserve of labour. Their entry is facilitated through the operation of an institutional mechanism and a set of intermediaries, who actively segment the labour market. Deregulation, heightened competition and inflow of massive investment into the industry led to a demand for more workers. As a result, the industry witnessed an increasing use of migrants, women and children as workers. The employment of such a heterogeneous group of workers has resulted in conflicting relations between capital and labour on the shop floor. The pattern of migration into the gold jewellery-making industry of Kerala shows that about 80 per cent of the migrants are from the northern and western parts of the country. This has complicated the existing antagonistic relations between labour and capital on the shop floor. Given such an economic situation, the socio-cultural significance of gold, the remittance-fuelled Kerala economy and the increasing intensity and scale of gold jewellery retailing within the state have prompted an interesting exploration of the working of the industry.
