Marxismo e Serviço Social: palestra do Professor José Paulo Netto

Os manuscritos ora apresentados constituem a transcrição — ainda que com algumas adaptações — da palestra proferida pelo Professor José Paulo Netto, em 29 de setembro de 2020. Desde logo, informamos ao leitor que o presente texto passou pelo crivo do palestrante que, depois de atenta leitura, aprovou-o para publicação. A atividade supracitada foi organizada pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Serviço Social, da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Como já estávamos enfrentando a crise sanitária decorrente da pandemia da Covid-19, a palestra foi realizada na forma de um Webinário, com a minha mediação. Na ocasião, o Professor José Paulo Netto abordou o tema Marxismo e Serviço Social: elementos para pensar a pesquisa, a produção do conhecimento e os desafios do trabalho dos assistentes sociais. Como destacamos já à época, o professor José Paulo Netto tem um carisma inquestionável e uma competência intelectual amplamente reconhecida. Trata-se de uma exposição sobre o tema feita por um dos mais importantes marxistas da atualidade no Brasil. Suas contribuições ultrapassam as fronteiras do Serviço Social, tanto brasileiro como latino-americano, caribenho e europeu. José Paulo Netto tem contribuído para o debate da teoria social marxista e, por isso, tem também reconhecimento em outras áreas do conhecimento, o que acaba por fortalecer o próprio Serviço Social brasileiro, haja vista que é um agente desta categoria. Quem o conhece sabe que a sua produção intelectual é acompanhada pela militância política, no contexto das lutas anticapitalistas. Não por acaso, José Paulo Netto recebeu a insígnia de ser um marxista sem repouso, não só pela sua contribuição no âmbito da academia, mas também pela sua capacidade de problematizar e colocar luzes sobre as pautas e as lutas da classe trabalhadora. A exposição de José Paulo Netto que agora chega ao público também em forma de uma publicação escrita por esta edição da Revista Katálysis foi realizada num período imediatamente precedente à publicação daquela que já tem sido reconhecida como uma de suas mais importantes produções intelectuais. Trata-se do seu livro Marx: uma biografia, que foi lançado no final de 2020 e que deu forma a um sonho que perseguia o autor desde a sua adolescência. Este sonho, talvez mais do que poderia ele imaginar, tem ganhado força social na medida em que tem suscitado nos estudiosos do marxismo, principiantes ou não, questionamentos importantes sobre o nosso tempo histórico a partir da obra e da vida de Karl Marx, o que evidencia a atualidade do seu pensamento para orientar as lutas pela emancipação humana.Alternate :The following manuscript results from the transcription — albeit with some adaptations — of the lecture given by Professor José Paulo Netto, on September 29, 2020. The text was reviewed by the speaker himself, who, after careful reading, approved it for publication. The aforementioned event was organized by the Postgraduate Program in Social Work, at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Since we were already facing the global health crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the lecture was held in a Webinar format and coordinated by me. During the occasion, Professor José Paulo Netto addressed the theme entitled Marxism and Social Work: reflections on research, knowledge production, and the challenges of social workers' practice. As we pointed out at the time, Professor José Paulo Netto has undeniable charisma and widely acknowledged intellectual competence. The theme was tackled by one of the most important Marxists in Brazil today. His contributions surpass the boundaries of Social Work, both Brazilian and Latin American, Caribbean and European. José Paulo Netto has enriched Marxist social theory in general and, therefore, he also has an impact on other areas of knowledge, which further strengthens the Brazilian Social Work, since he is a representative of this category. Those who know him are aware that his intellectual career is accomp nied by a life of political militancy, in the context of anti-capitalist struggles. Not by chance, José Paulo Netto has received the title of being a restless Marxist, not only for his efforts in the academic field, but also for his capacity to challenge and shed light on the agendas and struggles of the working class. This lecture by José Paulo Netto which now is brought to the general public in the form of a written piece, published in this issue of Katálysis Journal, was held right before the release of what has already been recognized as one of his most important intellectual works. His book Marx: a biography, which was released in late 2020 and fulfilled one the author's teenage dream. This dream come true, perhaps more than he could have imagined, has gained social force to the extent that it has raised in scholars of Marxism, beginners or not, relevant questions about our historical time from the work and life of Karl Marx, which highlights the relevance of his thought to guide the struggles for human emancipation.

Necropolítica e governo Jair Bolsonaro: repercussões na seguridade social brasileira

Este artigo busca problematizar o avanço do modelo ultraneoliberal presente no governo Bolsonaro e seus impactos na política de seguridade social brasileira, enquanto política pública e como tal, dever do Estado. O avanço das contrarreformas reacionárias destrói os sustentáculos essenciais da política de seguridade social: a saúde, previdência e assistência social. A metodologia escolhida consiste na pesquisa bibliográfica a partir de produções científicas publicadas em artigos e livros, como também, jornais e revistas sobre a temática. A agenda ultraneoliberal impõe uma perseguição sem precedentes aos direitos historicamente conquistados. Em tempos de pandemia pela Covid-19, as contradições da política de negação de direitos se evidenciam. O bolsonarismo tem implementado como política oficial a necropolítica, que advém de um domínio autoritário de definir quem deve morrer e quem merece viver, aprofundando ainda mais a barbárie social contra a classe trabalhadora.Alternate :This article seeks to problematize the advancement of the ultraneoliberal model present in the Bolsonaro government and its impacts on the Brazilian social security policy, as a public policy and as such, the duty of the State. The advance of reactionary counter-reforms destroys the essential pillars of the social security policy: health, social security and social assistance. The chosen methodology consists of bibliographic research based on scientific productions published in articles and books, as well as newspapers and magazines on the subject. The ultraneoliberal agenda imposes an unprecedented pursuit of the rights historically won. In pandemic times for Covid-19, the contradictions of the denial of rights policy are evident. Bolsonarism has implemented necropolitics as an official policy, which comes from an authoritarian domain of defining who should die and who deserves to live, further deepening the social barbarism against the working class.

As contrarreformas e a reprodução social na pandemia da Covid-19

Este artigo busca compreender a conjuntura na qual nos encontrávamos quando a pandemia atinge o território brasileiro, procurando analisar suas consequências para a reprodução social tanto do capital, quanto dos trabalhadores. A pesquisa se pauta em estudos bibliográficos e documental, guiando-se nos passos do materialismo histórico-dialético. Busca evidenciar, inicialmente, as transformações no mundo do trabalho que vêm sendo implementadas desde o processo de redemocratização do país. A seguir, procura expor elementos que apontavam para o aumento das desigualdades e a piora das condições de vida dos trabalhadores, além de evidenciar algumas das frações da classe trabalhadora especialmente afetada. Os elementos estruturantes que impactam sobre a reprodução social resultam das contrarreformas implantadas, e não dos impactos da pandemia em si;as ações tomadas para o enfrentamento da crise objetivavam a manutenção do capital, em detrimento do trabalho.Alternate :The article seeks to understand the conjuncture in which we found ourselves when the pandemic hits Brazilian territory, seeking to analyze it's consequences for social reproduction, both for capital and for workers. The research that resulted in the article is based on bibliographic and documentary studies, guided by the steps of historical-dialectical materialism. It seeks to initially highlight the changes in the world of work that have been implemented since the country's redemocratization process. Next, it seeks to expose elements that pointed to the increase in inequalities and the worsening of the living conditions of workers, in addition to highlighting some of the fractions of the working class especially affected. The structuring elements that impact on social reproduction result from the implemented counter-reforms, and not from the impacts of the pandemic itself;the actions taken to face the crisis aimed at maintaining capital, to the detriment of work.

"I'm Doing This for Me:” Gendered Reasons for Enrolling in Postsecondary Education During a Time of Economic Uncertainty

This study examines the gendered experiences of working class, nontraditional postsecondary students in the context of the Great Recession. Based on in-depth interviews with 75 students, and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts 6 to 8 years later, we find that both men and women emphasized the importance of providing for their families. In the context of an economic downturn, interviewees were concerned about improving their job prospects with educational credentials to ensure greater financial stability. Yet whereas men focused primarily on financially providing for their families as their reason for enrolling in college, women emphasized both providing for their families and self-development. This blending of the perceived purposes of education suggests that women expressed a more complex, multifaceted understanding of their reasons for enrolling in education. This study has implications for not only the Great Recession but motivations for enrolling during other recessions, including the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023 North Central Sociological Association.

"We go fearlessly into the maw of death": The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 in American Orthodox Rus'

The influenza epidemic of 1918 afflicted millions of people in the United States, among them Orthodox Christians. These included thousands of Carpatho-Rusyn believers who predominantly comprised what leaders of the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America called American Orthodox Rus'. For these working-class Orthodox Christians, influenza laid bare the critical vulnerabilities and insecurities of immigrant life. During the epidemic, believers turned to their church for spiritual comfort, and to religious newspapers for practical health advice. They also relied upon parachurch institutions like mutual-aid societies for fraternity and material support. Taken together, these aspects portray the influenza epidemic as an interwoven medical, spiritual, and social crisis that threatened lives, strained community resources, and disrupted the complex religious worlds of American Orthodox Rus'. Contrasted against the COVID-19 pandemic a century later, the long-overlooked influenza epidemic illustrates the changing role of the Orthodox Church in believers' social and material lives in North America.

Queering Diasporic Desi Solidarity: South Asian Activism in US and UK Multiracial Social Movements

This article explores the linkages between queerness, racialization, activism, and community care in the South Asian diaspora. It examines activism, organizing, and social movement work practiced by queer diasporic South Asians in the UK and the United States. By analyzing the South Asian activist relationship to, and solidarity and partnership with, Black liberation activism, this article conceptualizes a framing of queer South Asian diasporic solidarity. This solidarity is framed through contrasting articulations of joint struggle, allyship, and kinship in queer communities. To articulate this struggle, the article contrasts histories of South Asian racialization, politicization, and queerness in the UK and the United States, and synthesizes first-person activist accounts of modern-day queer South Asian activists in the diaspora. Finally, it argues that queer feminist South Asian activists in both countries are employing a model of queered solidarity with Black activists and Black liberation, though in differing forms in each country, that centers queer intimacies and anti-patriarchal modes of organizing for liberation across queer communities of color.

Tendency of Student Mobility During Crises: The Sunk Cost Theory Moderated by Emotions and Family Decisions on Studying Overseas

The perceived loss is more complicated when the mental accounting process involves a higher aspiration level (e.g., parents send their children abroad for elite higher education, career success, and permanent residence in the destination country) mixed with an increased possibility of regretting the decision (e.g., the regret induced by the outbreak of pandemic and the low morale of global economy). Instruction languages, textbooks, teaching style, learning environment, and evaluation methods are all essentially distinct between the two school systems. Even for whom stuck in AP- or IB-curriculums of international high schools, with generous family funds, those students can pursue alternative career paths in art performance, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, or take gap years. For other families who have already chosen public schools and then domestic universities, especially working-class families with budget constraints, they are predictable to become risk aversion and avoid the perceived anti-Chinese discrimination and other additional academic, psychological, or social challenges (Yu et al., 2019).

Other lullabies: Attacks on Blackness, confusion of tongues, and the loss of play

Through a close reading of an anonymous lullaby from Latin America, the paper argues how colonial legacies and systemic racism, in the context of the structure of whiteness and the Covid pandemic, have had a nefarious impact on the material, symbolic, and psychic life of poor and working-class children and adolescents of color. The paper places a focus on Black kids. Left outside the symbolic, material, and legal order, these individuals suffer systemic attacks against their body and mind. This fact, in tandem with the devastating realities of the pandemic, have produced what the author calls an experience of "the end of the world." Three main consequences of all these configurations are discussed: (1) failed identifications with whiteness;(2) loss of play;and (3) "confusion of tongues." The need for new social lullabies, ones that invigorate our social capacity to dream the (colonial) state of affairs as being otherwise and that create communal solidarity, is proposed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Relationships between working-class, first-generation college students and their parent(s)/guardian(s): A phenomenological study on the impacts of middle-class socialization

This constructionist phenomenological dissertation study explored stories from nine working-class, first-generation college students, specifically how middle-class socialization on a four-year university campus located in the Mountain West region of the United States impacts the relationships with their parent(s)/guardian(s). My primary research question was: How does attending college at a 4-year public university influence first-generation, working-class students' relationships with the ir parent(s)/guardian(s)? My sub-research questions were: What role does middle-class socialization that occurs on a 4-year public university campus play in impacting this relationship? And what role does online learning/remote learning during this COVID-19 period play in impacting this relationship? I used Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth theory and Hurst's (2010) Loyalist, Renegade, and Double Agent study as the two main theoretical frameworks for this study. For data collection, I use semi-structured interviews, a researcher diary, and a panel of experts from the research site. My data analysis revealed eight significant shared stories amongst the participants. This manuscript style dissertation offers a deep dive into two of the findings, space and work ethic. Space was revealed as a class-influenced value. Space showed up as geographical space between family, privacy, such as having a private bedroom, and consistently sharing space with family to do chores together. Additionally, being a strong worker to be valued by both the student and their parent(s)/guardian(s), but difficult to demonstrate through coursework. The working-class parent(s)/guardian(s) defined working hard as physical labor. It was difficult for their student to demonstrate that they are working hard when their work does not require physical exertion. My conclusion chapter includes a brief description of the remaining six shared stories: Being successful in college to make sure their parent(s)'/guardian(s)' sacrifices were worth it, particularly if the parent/guardian immigrated to the United States;starting to value mental health;religious parent(s)/guardian(s) being nervous about their child being away from the church;transitioning from a strict household to an environment that encourages freedom of choice;transitioning from a high school where most of the students are of color to a predominantly white institution;and lastly, I found it significant that every participant was able to identify a specific program or service on campus that helped them be successful. Reflection questions and programmatic recommendations for higher education professionals are provided in the two manuscripts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Fighting inequalities in times of pandemic: The role of politicized identities and interdependent self-construal in coping with economic threat.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions encouraged social isolation and non-interaction with other people to prevent contagion. Still, the response to an impending economic crisis must be through the collective organization. In this set of pre-registered studies, we analyse two possible mechanisms of coping with collective economic threats: shared social identity and interdependent self-construction. We conducted three correlational studies during the pandemic in May-October 2020 (Study 1, N = 363; Study 2, N = 250; Study 3, N = 416). Results show that shared identity at two levels of politicization (i.e., working-class and 99% identities) and interdependent self-construal mediated the relationship between collective economic threat, intolerance towards economic inequality and collective actions to reduce it. The results highlight that the collective economic threat can reinforce the sense of community-either through the activation of a politicized collective identity, such as the working class or the 99% or through the activation of an interdependent self-which in turn can trigger greater involvement in the fight against economic inequality. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Privileged dependence, precarious autonomy: Parent/young adult relationships through the lens of COVID-19

Objective: This article identifies how social class differences in undergraduates' relationships with their parents shaped their responses to educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The mechanisms through which parents transmit class advantages to children are often hidden from view and therefore remain imperfectly understood. This study uses the case of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine how young adults from different social class backgrounds expect, negotiate, and attach meaning to parental support. Methods: This study draws from in-depth interviews with 48 Black and White upper-middle and working-class undergraduates from a single elite university, along with 10 of their mothers. Results: Facing pandemic-related disruptions, upper-middle-class students typically sought substantial direction and material assistance from parents. In contrast, working-class students typically assumed more responsibility for their own-and sometimes other family members'-well-being. These classed patterns of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" were shaped by students' understandings of family members' authority, needs, and responsibilities. Conclusion: Upper-middle-class students' greater dependence on parents functioned as a protective force, enabling them to benefit from parents' material and academic support during the transition to remote instruction. These short-term protections may yield long-term payoffs denied their working-class peers. Beyond the immediate context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concepts of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" offer scholars a set of theoretical tools for understanding class inequality in other young adult contexts.

Class, Capitalism and Inequality: Schooling and Education in Neo-Liberal, Neoconservative and Neo- Fascist COVID Times: A Classical Marxist Critical Analysis and Activist Programme

This article focuses on a particular group in capitalist society that is disabled, demeaned and denied by capitalism itself, through processes of economic exploitation, systematic and systemic class exclusion, and discrimination/ prejudice- that is- the working class. In doing so I recognise that the working class (defined as all those who sell their/ our labour power) is segmented horizontally into `layers', or strata (for example, the dispossessed, unemployed, unskilled, though to the supervisory. managerial level/ stratum) and also vertically, for example, by `race' and by gender, with particular ethnic groups, and women in general, disabled and oppressed and exploited to a greater degree than their/ our white, male sisters and brothers). Analysing from a Classical Marxist perspective I address the structures of the capitalist state through which this exclusion and 'subalternising' is imposed, through formal state structures such as education, media, the panoply of state force and class law, as well as through the material power of the capitalist class, expressed through, for example, wage suppression and enforced immiseration of the majority of the working class. In doing so I address two types of neo-Marxist analysis- 'Structuralist neo-Marxism' and 'Culturalist neo-Marxism', and the dialectical relationship between them. They differ on such matters as: the degree of `relative autonomy' for resistant agency, the relative impact and import of cultural-ideological as against structural- material analysis, and the salience or not of social class analysis, the Capital-Labour relation, vis-a vis other forms of oppression such as `race, and gender', and their implications for political resistance and organisation at the cultural-ideological level and at the level of power, the material power to reform and revolutionise economic and social relations of Capital. I propose an activist programme of resistance at two levels. Firstly, societal level, looking at Marxists such as Marx and Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky and the dialectical relationship between Reform and Revolution. Secondly, at the level of Education, both formal and informal (through social movements, political parties, trade unions, through public pedagogy for example). Within the formal education structures, I advance specific proposals regarding schooling and teacher education. This is a panoptic paper- the issues above are linked in terms of Classical Marxist analysis of capitalism, class exploitation and oppression, and the implications of such analysis for the praxis and politics of resistance.

Migration, Informality and the Growing Precarity of Work

We view the impact of three decades of rapid growth and structural change in India on the lives of the working poor in terms of the growing precarity of work. The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020 and the ensuing crisis exposed the vulnerability of informal workers, particularly circular migrants, and resulted in the largest ever urban exodus of migrants. The crisis was a result of changes that had systematically increased the magnitude and scope of informal employment in the industrial and service sectors, and created a cheap, flexible and pliable workforce. Circular migrants, a product of uneven regional development, form an ever-growing segment of this flexible, informal workforce. Largely excluded from urban citizenship and civic rights, they lead a precarious existence, oscillating between town and country, and carrying out tasks that preserve gender and social hierarchies.

Brooklyn's Readiness as a Travel Destination: A Case Study

The primary purposes of this study were to examine visitor perception of Brooklyn's tourism attributes and to apply the results to the "Importance Satisfaction Analysis" (I.P.A.) to determine its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to increase the City 's competitiveness. Two 5-point Likert Scales were used to rate visitor satisfaction of destination attributes and the importance of the attributes to Brooklyn visitors. The sample consisted of 436 visitors to New York City and the borough of Brooklyn between 2017 and 2020. Local transportation, food, accommodations a variety of attractions and activities, and personal safety were rated high in importance and high in satisfaction. However, the results also indicated significant gaps in the important tourism service attributes and visitor satisfaction, namely in accommodations and local hospitality. As a fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the foreseeable future, service quality, especially those concerned with health and cleanliness, will be paramount. This study will provide useful insights into the visitor experience as New York City charts tourism recovery post-pandemic.

Essential but not empowered: reflections on the working class in Canada under COVID-19

This paper focuses on the political economy of work and labour under COVID-19 in the Canadian context. It reviews the impact of the COVID crisis on employment and workers, highlighting gendered and racialized inequalities in waged and unwaged work, analyzes state responses to the crisis, and explores how organized labour has navigated COVID capitalism. It argues that, while unions have engaged in necessary defensive struggles, the labour movement has not prioritized and won class-wide demands.This paper is part of the SPE Theme on the Political Economy of COVID-19.

Internationalization in Higher Education: Equity, Affordability, Epistemic Democracy? or Social Reproduction and World-Systems Stratification?

This autoethnographic paper exposes the multiple barriers encountered by an international doctoral female student in the United States: health issues especially Covid-19, institutional, political, geopolitical, knowledge production and economic factors. Reproduction theory, the world-system analysis and intellectual imperialism are used to examine these factors exposing the illusion of equity in international higher education and its role in perpetuating the imbalances and exclusion of large groups of people and entire countries. Contrary to the narrative, international students are often part of these large excluded groups of people but are not regularly included in the discussion.

Biologisms on the left and the right

Victorian Britain saw the rise of biologism, the practice of attributing biological cause to that which is explicable either wholly or in part by environment. Its most extreme expression was eugenics, first disseminated by Galton through Macmillan’s Magazine in 1865. I explore early British eugenics as a biologistic discourse centred on class which took aim primarily at the “residuum”, or “submerged tenth”, the section of the working class alleged to be least productive. It was framed by racism, the biologism on which much late-Victorian imperialism was based. I consider ways in which biologisms inform distinct twenty-first-century discourse and practice, from policies around child benefit to Covid19, and focus on one thread of biologistic thought as it extends to debates on gender identity – the idea that gender is both a feeling but also innate and brain-based. I conclude that gender identity theory risks, however inadvertently, reinscribing biologistic ideas and stereotypes.

Relationships between working-class, first-generation college students and their parent(s)/guardian(s): A phenomenological study on the impacts of middle-class socialization

This constructionist phenomenological dissertation study explored stories from nine working-class, first-generation college students, specifically how middle-class socialization on a four-year university campus located in the Mountain West region of the United States impacts the relationships with their parent(s)/guardian(s). My primary research question was: How does attending college at a 4-year public university influence first-generation, working-class students' relationships with the ir parent(s)/guardian(s)? My sub-research questions were: What role does middle-class socialization that occurs on a 4-year public university campus play in impacting this relationship? And what role does online learning/remote learning during this COVID-19 period play in impacting this relationship? I used Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth theory and Hurst's (2010) Loyalist, Renegade, and Double Agent study as the two main theoretical frameworks for this study. For data collection, I use semi-structured interviews, a researcher diary, and a panel of experts from the research site. My data analysis revealed eight significant shared stories amongst the participants. This manuscript style dissertation offers a deep dive into two of the findings, space and work ethic. Space was revealed as a class-influenced value. Space showed up as geographical space between family, privacy, such as having a private bedroom, and consistently sharing space with family to do chores together. Additionally, being a strong worker to be valued by both the student and their parent(s)/guardian(s), but difficult to demonstrate through coursework. The working-class parent(s)/guardian(s) defined working hard as physical labor. It was difficult for their student to demonstrate that they are working hard when their work does not require physical exertion. My conclusion chapter includes a brief description of the remaining six shared stories: Being successful in college to make sure their parent(s)'/guardian(s)' sacrifices were worth it, particularly if the parent/guardian immigrated to the United States;starting to value mental health;religious parent(s)/guardian(s) being nervous about their child being away from the church;transitioning from a strict household to an environment that encourages freedom of choice;transitioning from a high school where most of the students are of color to a predominantly white institution;and lastly, I found it significant that every participant was able to identify a specific program or service on campus that helped them be successful. Reflection questions and programmatic recommendations for higher education professionals are provided in the two manuscripts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Seasonal Associate: by Heike Geißler, translated by Katy Derbyshire, Afterword by Kevin Vennemann, Cambridge, MA, Semiotext(e)/MIT Press, 2018, 239 pp., $16.95/£13.99 (paper)

Seasonal Associate: by Heike Geißler, translated by Katy Derbyshire, Afterword by Kevin Vennemann, Cambridge, MA, Semiotext(e)/MIT Press, 2018, 239 pp., $16.95/£13.99 (paper) Heike Geißler's nameless female protagonist, temporary employee for the holiday season at Amazon-Germany in Leipzig, has company. The past few years have produced numerous accounts on work, both scholarly and personal, studies of labor and individual narratives of employment, jobs, gigs, the ever more dispersed realm of people's interaction with the economy, made more tenuous on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of European Legacy is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Mobility, Translocality and Social Reproduction during COVID-19: Migrant Workers in Narela Industrial Estate, Delhi

The reverse migration of workers at the beginning of the first lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic forcefully crystalised underlying issues such as poverty, hunger and the precarious lives of the working class in India’s megacities. With the easing of lockdowns, workers are again on the move. Against this background, this article aims to examine and unpack the reasons that have shaped labour mobility during the ongoing pandemic. It uses the framework of mobility studies and translocality which provide a strong analytical framework to understand linkages between rural and urban areas. In the process, the article highlights the politics associated with the mobility of workers. It draws on a case study of a peripheral industrial region of Delhi known as Narela. After briefly situating the study in the historicity of Narela with respect to the Industrial Relocation Policy of Delhi and resettlement of bastis, it highlights the lived experiences of the working-class population during and after the first lockdown of the pandemic. Based on detailed in-depth telephonic interviews, the article reiterates the crucial relationship between spatially stretched social reproduction and the social embeddedness of workers which suggests that there are a host of factors affecting workers’ mobility.