The badli system in industrial labour recruitment: Managers' and workers' strategies in Calcutta's jute industry

This paper discusses the system of badli' (substitute) labour in rite jute industry of Calcutta. This is placed bt the context of recent debates about the,need for flexible labour markets, and against the background of the in dustry's deep crisis. The paper aims to contribute to these debates by anal ysing the way the system of badli labour has ei:oh ed. II arguer against on e-sided and anachronistic interpretations that isolate employers' strategie s; examines the specific circumstances that gave the system its particular shape; and tries to restore agency-managers' as well as workers'-into the l abour historiography. Four main arguments are put forward. First, a badli s ystem existed before it became regulated. Second, there are few signs of an employer's strategy to create a system of badli labour-though they did use it to their advantage. Third, the badli system is riot accompanied by a so cial segmentation of the population of the industrial area. Finally: the pa per re-examines the link between the badli system and the form of migration predominant in this industry, arguing that circular migration is the resul t of a complex set of circumstances, including rural conditions and socio-c ultural views regarding the mobility of women.