Presentation short abstract

Drawing on ideas of ‘pluriactivity’ and on neo-Marxist conceptualizations of labour, this paper suggests that a ‘24x7’ engagement of trade unions, an engagement which encompasses all facets of living and labouring, could open up the potential for a socially sensitive approach to just transition.

Presentation long abstract

The coal sector remains a significant provider of employment in coal-rich regions in India, and consequently the conundrum of the future of labour in a post-coal economy features in just transition narratives. Post-coal futures envisaged in policy documents and just transition narratives tend to define ‘labour’ as workers employed in the coal sector and the aligned industries. Recommendations for accommodating concerns of labour therefore focus on “reskilling” and on creating “green” jobs. This definition of labour, also articulated within trade union discourses in India, is however limited by its lack of engagement with and acknowledgement of the interconnections between various sources of livelihood in coal-rich regions in India. It fails to recognize the multiple ways in which communities navigate life between formal and informal economies, between agrarian, land-based livelihoods, temporary jobs within the coal economy and other non-farm employment in the Global South. Drawing on ideas of ‘pluriactivity’ and on neo-Marxist conceptualizations of labour and of ‘class’ as a social relation rather than as a structural location, this paper suggests that a ‘24x7’ engagement of trade unions with labour, an engagement which encompasses all facets of living and labouring in coal regions, could open up the potential for a more locally grounded and socially sensitive approach to just transition. Such approaches could allow for the reframing of trade union praxis, and hence lead to a more involved and constructive integration of workers’ voices in just transition narratives.