Agrarian power and unfree labour

This study contributes a theoretical analysis of unfree and free employment relations and reopens the Indian debate on the unfree status of attached l abour. It is argued that the concepts of unfree and free employment relatio ns are based on the incommensurable categories of negative freedom and self -determination. Nor can any clear separation be sustained between labour su bject to 'non-economic' coercion versus labour subject exclusively to 'econ omic' coercion. In this light, the study specifies the production relations through which agrarian power is exercised and thereby identifies the subst antive differences between attached labour in rural India and wage labour u nder canonical forms of capitalism.