ABSTRACT
In this final chapter I shall begin by summing up the framework utilized for studying children’s work in Kerala, before exploring the theoretical implications of my approach. I have chosen as the subject of this book working children who perform work which does not fit the definition of child labour in its accepted meaning of remunerated work undertaken in an industrial or urban setting. Also the choice of Kerala, of all Indian states the one with the lowest incidence of child labour and the highest rates of primary school enrolment, seems a little unconvincing. This is not a failure on my part to examine a typical case, but a choice borne out of dissatisfaction with the current approach to child labour in the Third World. Despite stereotypes to the contrary, the Kerala case shows that working children are typically the sons and daughters of the rural poor and that they work for no pay. This work does not stand in the way of their going to school, but is often complementary to it. Although their position in society and the pattern of their activities combine to make them unappreciated as workers, they are no less exploited than the children in employment.
