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.
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