Rina Agarwala

Bio: Rina Agarwala is an academic researcher from Johns Hopkins University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Globalization & Collective action. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 29 publications receiving 907 citations. Previous affiliations of Rina Agarwala include University of Copenhagen & Cornell University.

The State and Labor in Transnational Activism: The Case of India

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between the state and informal workers’ transnational labor movements. Using the case of the Self-Employed Women’s Association, I illustrate how Indian informal workers are launching an alternative labor movement that addresses their unique conditions by simultaneously privileging the central role of the nation state and leveraging the power of the transnational arena. Indian informal workers use three types of transnational activism to generate new forms of integration with the Indian state. Doing so helps them increase informal workers’ visibility and integrate their issues into government agendas. To attract state attention, informal workers’ transnational efforts focus on local issues and a commitment to empowerment. These findings highlight the potential for Southern leadership in transnationalism and the role that democratic political structures play in shaping transnational labor efforts.

Whatever Happened to Class? : Reflections from South Asia

Abstract: 1. Introduction - Restoring Agency to Class: Puzzles from South Asia Ronald J. Herring and Rina Agarwala 2. On the Decline of Class Analysis in South Asian Studies Vivek Chibber 3. Was the Indian Labor Movement Ever Co-opted? Evaluating Standard Accounts Emmanuel Teitelbaum 4. From Work to Welfare: A New Class Movement in India Rina Agarwala 5. Middle-Class Activism and the Politics of the Informal Working Class: A Perspective on Class Relations and Civil Society in Indian Cities John Harriss 6. Why Did "Operation Cremate Monsanto" Fail? Science and Class in India's Great Terminator-Technology Hoax Ronald J. Herring 7. Hegemonic Aspirations: New Middle Class Politics and India's Democracy in Comparative Perspective Leela Fernandes and Patrick Heller 8. Workers' Organizations in Pakistan: Why No Role in Formal Politics? Christopher Candland

Informal Worker Organizing as a Strategy for Improving Subcontracted Work in the Textile and Apparel Industries of Brazil, South Africa, India and China

Abstract: Recent tragedies in Bangladesh and Pakistan have led to greater public attention on the garment and textile industry. Hence, this study is timely and provides insights into the current working conditions, organizing efforts, and the changing organization and structure of the industry in question. Our central question in this study is the extent to which worker organization can improve monitoring and enforcement of labor standards in subcontracted and home-based work in the garment and textile sectors in Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. Existing research literature suggests that in at least some cases of informalized and casualized work, formation and mobilization of worker organizations can do much in this regard. The research has particularly pointed to the importance of innovative and alternative forms of organization that depart from standard trade union models—in line with the departure of whole sections of the world of work from standard forms of work organization. While suggestive, this literature has been dominated by cases of a single organization in a single country, or in some cases convenience samples of organizations from one or a range of countries.

Resistance and Compliance in the Age of Globalization: Indian Women and Labor Organizations

Abstract: This article summarizes findings obtained through ethnographic research conducted in three states in India between 2002 and 2004. On the basis of interviews with more than three hundred labor leaders, government officials, and working women, the author reports on the efforts of informal workers in construction and tobacco manufacturing to organize and improve their conditions of life. Contrary to mobilizations in the formal sector, those workers do not make direct demands on their employers. Instead they appeal to the state to obtain welfare benefits. The study shows that neoliberal reform has surprisingly opened up new channels for informal workers to constitute themselves as a class. This represents an amendment to earlier analyses that focused exclusively on the mobilizing capacity of workers in the formal sector. The author concludes by highlighting the importance of this work for the study of social movements and labor's relationship with the state.

Economic growth and income inequality

Abstract: We investigate whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997), with negative results. We then investigate the evolution of income inequality over the same period and its correlation with growth. The dominating feature is inequality convergence across countries. This convergence has been significantly faster amongst developed countries. Growth does not appear to influence the evolution of inequality over time. Outline

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

Infertility around the globe: new thinking on gender, reproductive technologies and global movements in the 21st century

Abstract: Background Infertility is estimated to affect as many as 186 million people worldwide. Although male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of global childlessness, infertility remains a woman's social burden. Unfortunately, areas of the world with the highest rates of infertility are often those with poor access to assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). In such settings, women may be abandoned to their childless destinies. However, emerging data suggest that making ART accessible and affordable is an important gender intervention. To that end, this article presents an overview of what we know about global infertility, ART and changing gender relations, posing five key questions: (i) why is infertility an ongoing global reproductive health problem? (ii) What are the gender effects of infertility, and are they changing over time? (iii) What do we know about the globalization of ART to resource-poor settings? (iv) How are new global initiatives attempting to improve access to IVF? (v) Finally, what can be done to overcome infertility, help the infertile and enhance low-cost IVF (LCIVF) activism? Methods An exhaustive literature review using MEDLINE, Google Scholar and the keyword search function provided through the Yale University Library (i.e. which scans multiple databases simultaneously) identified 103 peer-reviewed journal articles and 37 monographs, chapters and reports from the years 2000-2014 in the areas of: (i) infertility demography, (ii) ART in low-resource settings, (iii) gender and infertility in low-resource settings and (iv) the rise of LCIVF initiatives. International Federation of Fertility Societies Surveillance reports were particularly helpful in identifying important global trends in IVF clinic distribution between 2002 and 2010. Additionally, a series of articles published by scholars who are tracking global cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) trends, as well as others who are involved in the growing LCIVF movement, were invaluable. Results Recent global demographic surveys indicate that infertility remains an ongoing reproductive problem, with six key demographic features. Despite the massive global expansion of ART services over the past decade (2005-2015), ART remains inaccessible in many parts of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where IVF clinics are still absent in most countries. For women living in such ART-poor settings, the gender effects of infertility may be devastating. In contrast, in ART-rich regions such as the Middle East, the negative gender effects of infertility are diminishing over time, especially with state subsidization of ART. Furthermore, men are increasingly acknowledging their male infertility and seeking ICSI. Thus, access to ART may ameliorate gender discrimination, especially in the Global South. To that end, a number of clinician-led, LCIVF initiatives are in development to provide affordable ART, particularly in Africa. Without access to LCIVF, many infertile couples must incur catastrophic expenditures to fund their IVF, or engage in CBRC to seek lower-cost IVF elsewhere. Conclusions Given the present realities, three future directions for research and intervention are suggested: (i) address the preventable causes of infertility, (ii) provide support and alternatives for the infertile and (iii) encourage new LCIVF initiatives to improve availability, affordability and acceptability of ART around the globe.