Body of Labour
4 pm, 31st October, 2013
Panelists: Dr. Prabhu Mohapatra, Ram Rahman, Sudhir Patwardhan, Amar Kanwar. Moderated by Ravi Agarwal
‘Body of Labour’ proposes a dialogue between labour historians and artists on issues of representations of labour and the relationship between culture and working class consciousness. The presentations will examine a gamut of representational strategies pursued by artists and intellectuals. How has the act of the artist speaking on behalf of, or giving voice to, the workers changed over the years as the perception of labour itself undergoes change? The presentations will also examine the changed conditions of globalization that has led to, among other things, the rise of informal labour and heterogeneity of labour forms. There will be a discussion on the new directions in labour discourse that bring forth issues of culture, community, family and gender, that question the idea of a universal experience of labour and foreground multiple and complex identity formations.