Articles by Madhumita Dutta

The Sweatshop Regime: Labouring Bodies, Exploitation, and Garments Made in India by Alessandra Mezzadri, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017; pp 258, £82.99 (hardback).

The closure of Nokia's mobile phone assembly plant in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, just eight years after it commenced production, illustrates how corporations can quit operations at a point when it is no longer profitable for them to continue, while the impact of such closures on workers is profound. The special economic zones policy of the state actively promoted corporate-led industrialisation promising employment, and creating aspirations among young workers. There was no accountability or labour-centred exit policies factored into the state's industrial policies when state governments welcomed private investments. With the closure of Nokia, not only have promises been broken, but its workers and supply companies have lost their livelihoods and future possibilities of work. 

The government claims that the special economic zones will bring in investment, increase exports and economic activity, and create employment. The Nokia Telecom SEZ near Chennai is often held up as a stellar success of such claims. A closer look at the figures indicates that Nokia's investment is almost entirely paid for by public subsidy, much of the production is sold domestically, employment generation is below projections and workers are short-changed.