Arun K U M A R Sharma | IIT Kanpur (original) (raw)
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Papers by Arun K U M A R Sharma
Dialectical Anthropology
This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on et... more This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the bauxite-rich, plateau of Gumla district in Jharkhand, a state in the eastern part of India, this paper uses an historical approach to trace the evolution of the relationship between a mining company and the local adivasi (indigenous) communities over the last three decades. It portrays how development in this mining region is operationalized through the use of compensation. This makes financial resources available to landowners, and in turn provides private capital an access to natural resources. Compensation, thus, unifies the opposing interests of capital and labor in their strife to maximize their share in the wealth generated by bauxite mining. Against the associational power of labor, private capital forges multiple alliances with power elites including the state. These alliances coalesce multiple power structures into what we term the architecture of control (AOC). Three main functions of the AOC are identified: erosion of labor's collective bargaining power, suppression and delegitimization of anti-mining voices, and the replacement of primordial loyalties by the market rationality, which facilitate capital accumulation. This paper argues that the tension between capital accumulation and reproduction of household constantly reconfigures the development process which essentially increases dependency of the local population on the market. The paper warns that the benefit-sharing mechanism will justify and deepen the exploitation of labor in mining industries, unless the working class reinvents its politics to free development thinking from the concerns of capital.
Dialectical Anthropology
This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on et... more This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the bauxite-rich, plateau of Gumla district in Jharkhand, a state in the eastern part of India, this paper uses an historical approach to trace the evolution of the relationship between a mining company and the local adivasi (indigenous) communities over the last three decades. It portrays how development in this mining region is operationalized through the use of compensation. This makes financial resources available to landowners, and in turn provides private capital an access to natural resources. Compensation, thus, unifies the opposing interests of capital and labor in their strife to maximize their share in the wealth generated by bauxite mining. Against the associational power of labor, private capital forges multiple alliances with power elites including the state. These alliances coalesce multiple power structures into what we term the architecture of control (AOC). Three main functions of the AOC are identified: erosion of labor's collective bargaining power, suppression and delegitimization of anti-mining voices, and the replacement of primordial loyalties by the market rationality, which facilitate capital accumulation. This paper argues that the tension between capital accumulation and reproduction of household constantly reconfigures the development process which essentially increases dependency of the local population on the market. The paper warns that the benefit-sharing mechanism will justify and deepen the exploitation of labor in mining industries, unless the working class reinvents its politics to free development thinking from the concerns of capital.
Demography India, 2024
Focuses on the merits and limitations of Logistic Regression Analysis in demographic applications.
The success of Indian software industry is attributed largely to the quality of workforce it hold... more The success of Indian software industry is attributed largely to the quality of workforce it holds. Harnessing the software workforce is indispensable to India to maintain its growth in the global software services industry. Given this, need to reflect on the nature of software workforce necessitates an understanding of occupational classification in India. Review of literature shows that occupational classification of software workers is outdated, and is not adequately studied. On the basis of the work content, present paper classifies the software workers into four categories: writers, developers, designers and supervisors. Data for the paper was collected through task inventory and semi-structured interviews primarily from two software firms located in Bangalore.
The ideas presented in this paper are the outcome of my presentation in a National Conference org... more The ideas presented in this paper are the outcome of my presentation in a National Conference organized in Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, 3-4 November 2023. The workshop was organized on New Education Policy. Reading of Radhakamal Mukerjee and the hiatus I have always felt between my life experiences as Hindu and what I learnt about Hinduism from schools/colleges and media paved the way for pondering on development of endogenous sociology in India, free from open and hidden external biases against Indian values and culture. In this paper, first, I attempt to say a few words about Mukerjee, then I come to problems that Orientalism, supported by Western centre of thought and alien religions in India, has caused in India, and suggest what can lead to resolution of the present crisis emerging from racialization of castes and religions. I argue that there is a need to write Indian sociology in the framework of Vedic universal values which are reflected in various forms in spiritual, religious, and literary works in different languages in India.
Dialectical Anthropology
This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on et... more This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the bauxite-rich, plateau of Gumla district in Jharkhand, a state in the eastern part of India, this paper uses an historical approach to trace the evolution of the relationship between a mining company and the local adivasi (indigenous) communities over the last three decades. It portrays how development in this mining region is operationalized through the use of compensation. This makes financial resources available to landowners, and in turn provides private capital an access to natural resources. Compensation, thus, unifies the opposing interests of capital and labor in their strife to maximize their share in the wealth generated by bauxite mining. Against the associational power of labor, private capital forges multiple alliances with power elites including the state. These alliances coalesce multiple power structures into what we term the architecture of control (AOC). Three main functions of the AOC are identified: erosion of labor's collective bargaining power, suppression and delegitimization of anti-mining voices, and the replacement of primordial loyalties by the market rationality, which facilitate capital accumulation. This paper argues that the tension between capital accumulation and reproduction of household constantly reconfigures the development process which essentially increases dependency of the local population on the market. The paper warns that the benefit-sharing mechanism will justify and deepen the exploitation of labor in mining industries, unless the working class reinvents its politics to free development thinking from the concerns of capital.
Dialectical Anthropology
This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on et... more This paper examines how intra-and inter-class relations mold the development process. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the bauxite-rich, plateau of Gumla district in Jharkhand, a state in the eastern part of India, this paper uses an historical approach to trace the evolution of the relationship between a mining company and the local adivasi (indigenous) communities over the last three decades. It portrays how development in this mining region is operationalized through the use of compensation. This makes financial resources available to landowners, and in turn provides private capital an access to natural resources. Compensation, thus, unifies the opposing interests of capital and labor in their strife to maximize their share in the wealth generated by bauxite mining. Against the associational power of labor, private capital forges multiple alliances with power elites including the state. These alliances coalesce multiple power structures into what we term the architecture of control (AOC). Three main functions of the AOC are identified: erosion of labor's collective bargaining power, suppression and delegitimization of anti-mining voices, and the replacement of primordial loyalties by the market rationality, which facilitate capital accumulation. This paper argues that the tension between capital accumulation and reproduction of household constantly reconfigures the development process which essentially increases dependency of the local population on the market. The paper warns that the benefit-sharing mechanism will justify and deepen the exploitation of labor in mining industries, unless the working class reinvents its politics to free development thinking from the concerns of capital.
Demography India, 2024
Focuses on the merits and limitations of Logistic Regression Analysis in demographic applications.
The success of Indian software industry is attributed largely to the quality of workforce it hold... more The success of Indian software industry is attributed largely to the quality of workforce it holds. Harnessing the software workforce is indispensable to India to maintain its growth in the global software services industry. Given this, need to reflect on the nature of software workforce necessitates an understanding of occupational classification in India. Review of literature shows that occupational classification of software workers is outdated, and is not adequately studied. On the basis of the work content, present paper classifies the software workers into four categories: writers, developers, designers and supervisors. Data for the paper was collected through task inventory and semi-structured interviews primarily from two software firms located in Bangalore.
The ideas presented in this paper are the outcome of my presentation in a National Conference org... more The ideas presented in this paper are the outcome of my presentation in a National Conference organized in Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, 3-4 November 2023. The workshop was organized on New Education Policy. Reading of Radhakamal Mukerjee and the hiatus I have always felt between my life experiences as Hindu and what I learnt about Hinduism from schools/colleges and media paved the way for pondering on development of endogenous sociology in India, free from open and hidden external biases against Indian values and culture. In this paper, first, I attempt to say a few words about Mukerjee, then I come to problems that Orientalism, supported by Western centre of thought and alien religions in India, has caused in India, and suggest what can lead to resolution of the present crisis emerging from racialization of castes and religions. I argue that there is a need to write Indian sociology in the framework of Vedic universal values which are reflected in various forms in spiritual, religious, and literary works in different languages in India.