Research Project

Research aim: Studying the production and labour arrangements in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and its implication on Labour Geographies.

Since the 1980s, the promotion of special economic zones (SEZs) in Low Income Countries has been viewed by policy-makers as a critical strategy to plug nations and regions into global production networks. SEZs attract capital by offering a more conducive environment to private enterprises to manufacture, assemble, and package commodities for export. Although implemented in geographically diverse contexts, these zones are characterised by some common features, chief among them being a differently regulated economic environment. Portrayed as locations of increased employment and work, these zones are important sites for studying the labour arrangements and conditions of work.

Geographically demarcated and deemed as ‘foreign territories’, SEZs are highly contentious. Many scholars, NGOs, and international organisations have raised objections to violations of labour rights (ILO, 2001), dispossession of resources and livelihoods (Sampat, 2008), revenue losses to local communities (EPW, 2006; Dutta 2009; Asher, 2010), and state repression and violence arising from their implementation.

The proposed research seeks to understand the production and labour arrangements inside SEZs; what factors influences these arrangements; how are these arrangements experienced by workers in their everyday lives and their ability to negotiate and shape these arrangements.

Research Methodology 

Influenced by the politics and philosophy of Brazilan radical educator Paulo Freire's approach of - dialogue, praxis and education, I have chosen Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a research method for my project. In this approach a group of workers as co-researchers alongwith me will engage in the research process in all or in some ‘stages of research’—from setting the research framework to research process and its outcomes. This approach will allow the use of innovative research methods, the production of new knowledge and the creation of possibilities for social change.