The Political-Economy Of Industrial Relations Law in India

The Industrial Relations law in any country are the result of the constant interaction and interrelationship among labour, capital, the state and the economy. This paper is an attempt to trace the evolution of the same in India. The author charts the course of the Industrial Disputes Act in a three-stage periodisation: the Colonial Phase, the Post-Colonial Phase, and the Post-Liberalisation Phase. In the Colonial Phase, the Indian labour policy was dictated by the interest of the Colonial Capital. Even though the policy has evolved over the years, in the Post-Liberalisation Phase, it continues to be dictated, more than ever, by the foreign interest, perhaps through different dynamics, more subtle and forceful