Informal Agricultural Work, Habitus and Practices in an Indian Context

This paper examines recent employment practices among 39 families of Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, India. A social class analysis offers a starting point for the study of employment contracts. Employment practices are diverse, but the habitus of the employers and employees sometimes clashes with their practices. Resolving this paradox requires recognising that action is not deterministically caused; there is a structure-agency dynamic. The transformational model of social action offers a broad framework for studying variations in real practices. Five persons case studies are offered. We utilise evidence that is available for re-analysis in our q-squared database (se