ABSTRACT
Mainstream conceptions of development tend to be elitist—portraying states and corporations as primary and labour as subordinate development actors. This elite subject—subordinate object conception of social change legitimates the exploitation and repression of labouring classes, and obscures how the latter are development actors in their own right. This chapter provides a labour-centred conception of development. It introduces the concepts of pro-labour, labour-driven, and labour-led development to conceptualise social transformations from the bottom up. Cases of shackdwellers’ movements in South Africa, movements for urban reform in Brazil, and mass strikes in Indonesia substantiate the chapter’s core claims.
