GurgaonWorkersNews – Newsletter 59 – October 2013

Full version: www.gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com    Gurgaon in Haryana is presented as the shining India, a symbol of capitalist success promising a better life for everyone behind the gateway of development. At first glance the office towers and shopping malls reflect this chimera and even the facades of the garment factories look like three star hotels. Behind the facade, behind the factory walls and in the side streets of the industrial areas, thousands of workers keep the rat-race going, producing cars and scooters for the middle-classes, which end up in the traffic jams on the new highway between Delhi and Gurgaon. […]
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Full version: www.gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com   

Gurgaon in Haryana is presented as the shining India, a symbol of capitalist success promising a better life for everyone behind the gateway of development. At first glance the office towers and shopping malls reflect this chimera and even the facades of the garment factories look like three star hotels. Behind the facade, behind the factory walls and in the side streets of the industrial areas, thousands of workers keep the rat-race going, producing cars and scooters for the middle-classes, which end up in the traffic jams on the new highway between Delhi and Gurgaon. Thousands of young proletarianised middle class people lose time, energy and academic aspirations on night-shifts in call centres, selling loan schemes to working-class people in the US or pre-paid electricity schemes to the poor in the UK. Next door, thousands of rural-migrant workers up-rooted by the rural crisis stitch and sew for export, competing with their angry brothers and sisters in Bangladesh or Vietnam. And the rat-race will not stop; on the outskirts of Gurgaon, new industrial zones turn soil into over-capacities.

The following newsletter documents some of the developments in and around this miserable boom region. It aims at an exchange of workers’ collectives to forge trajectories beyond state and capital. If you want to know more about working and struggling in Gurgaon, if you want more info about or even contribute to this project, please do so via: [email protected]

In the October 2013 issue you can find:

1) Collective Action –
Reports on proletarian experiences and struggles in the area

*** Fight the Power: An Energy Regime in Crisis and the Struggle within and against it –
A short assessment of the various forces which crunch the energy regime in India: the financial crisis, which limits dependency on oil imports; the political resistance against (nuclear) power projects; and the resistance of workers employed on the power plant construction sites.

*** (Automobile) Crisis and Twelve Reports from Automobile Workers –
Since 2012 industrial growth rates in India came down significantly. In the automobile sector sales declined. Read a short summary regarding the crisis, followed by twelve reports from workers employed in various automobile suppliers in the Gurgaon-Manesar-Faridabad area.

*** Stitch No More: Collective Action by Garment Workers in Okhla –
Short report on garment workers strike which took place shortly after the massive joyous riot against local factories and managers’ cars during, but independent from the general strike in Okhla in early 2013.

*** Urban Unrest –
In GurgaonWorkersNews no.55 we presented a longer text on the class relation of urbanisation in Gurgaon. In this issue we summarise some updates and short news items on Gurgaon’s urban unrest: from conflicts between state and industrialists about land taxation to several anti-police riots against evictions and repression.

*** Dharuhera – A Small Town Near Gurgaon Wrestles With Change –
We document a recent article on the history and development of Dharuhera, an industrial town near Gurgaon/Manesar. We might not agree with some of the authors assumptions, such as the ‘feudal’ character of Dharuhera in the 1980s, but the article provides some interesting details, from land property relations to emergence of the local industry.

2) Theory and Practice –
Contributions for the Movement

The global and historical character of the current crisis forces us to coordinate both debate and practice ‘for workers self-emancipation’ on an international scale. Following texts are selective, but we think that they can stand as examples for ‘general theses’, ‘concrete analysis’ and ‘historical debate’ of class struggle and revolutionary movement.

*** AngryWorkersWorld: Workers’ Inquiry in the Logistics Sector and new Wildcat translations.
The text briefly explains the planned initiative. It is followed by translations from the collective wildcat: an article on the relation between proletarian practice within capitalist production and inquiry; an article on the current importance and class composition of the global logistics sector; a preliminary workers’ questionnaire for structured conversations.
http://libcom.org/blog/invitation-workers-inquiry-logistics-warehouse-london-04092013

*** Angry Workers of the World no.2 out!
New London-based newspaper on the history and current re-structuring of the health sector plus several health workers’ reports.
http://libcom.org/blog/angry-workers-world-aww-2-struggles-health-sector-out-now-17082013

*** Viewpoint Mag on Workers’ Inquiry out!
Great material and new translations of relevant texts on the question of workers’ inquiry. Important material for the debate.
http://viewpointmag.com/2013/09/30/issue-3-workers-inquiry/

*** New Text by Reproductive Workers’ ‘Florence Johnston Collective’ from the USA
The insightful article looks at the class character of the current cuts in food stamp allowances in the USA. More interesting material on their blog.
http://florencejohnstoncollective.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/when-do-we-snap-against-cuts-low-wages-and-food-stamp-discipline/

*** New Text by Mouvement Communiste on Current Situation in Egypt
The text examines the situation after the army intervention and looks at the limitation of independent working class action. Find the text on their web-site or on our blog.
http://www.mouvement-communiste.com/?lang=EN

*** Wildcat Text on Crisis and Struggles in Slovenia
New translation on the situation in Eastern Europe’s former role-model state.
http://www.wildcat-www.de/en/wildcat/94/e_w94_slovenja_en.html

*** Contribution to the Debate on Socialism and Technology
The article outlines a historical and conceptual perspective on the question of ‘technology’ and the lack of critique within the statist currents of socialism.
http://peopleandnature.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/technology-and-socialism-do-they-fit-together-that-easily/

*** In Hindi: New translation by the International Communist Current on the Revolution 1919 – 23 in Germany
http://hi.internationalism.org/

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