Revision summary
Informalisation is work without secure contract and social security. Hart named the sector; Breman showed Indian footloose labour as a system. PLFS files record a large uncovered workforce. Gender and caste sort who remains informal. It is a capitalist form, not a pre-modern leftover.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Informalisation is the spread of work without secure contract, social security, or recognised union rights. In India it is not a leftover of tradition. It is how much of capitalism actually hires.
Body
The meaning
- Keith Hart named the informal sector in African cities. Jan Breman showed footloose labour in India as a system, not a waiting room for factories.
- Informalisation can mean never-formal work, or the stripping of once-formal mills and public jobs.
Indian reference
- PLFS and earlier NSSO files show a large majority of workers outside formal social security.
- Construction, home-based garments, domestic work, and gig platforms extend the pattern into cities.
- Caste and gender organise who stays informal: Dalit and Adivasi bodies in hazardous tasks, women in unpaid and piece-rate care-linked work.
Relation to capital
- Karl Marx’s reserve army and Harry Braverman’s deskilling help, but Indian informality also uses putting-out and labour contractors.
- The state may celebrate ease of business while the Factories Act circle shrinks.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD INF[Informalisation] --> NO[No contract security union] INF --> IN[India majority PLFS] IN --> C[Contractor caste gender] CAP[Capital] --> INF
Conclusion
Informalisation is insecure, uncovered labour as a durable form. In India it is majority practice, shaped by contractors, caste, and gender, not a brief stop on the way to Fordist jobs.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Give an assessment of Durkheimian notion of 'sacred' and 'profane' in sociology of religion
Next question on this syllabus topic (2017 · Q5(c)). View answer →
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Is informal work the same as illegal work?
No. Much of it is lawful yet uncovered. Illegality is a separate question.
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Does growth automatically formalise labour?
Indian experience shows growth with persistent informality.
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2020 · Q3(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Capitalism has brought increasing informalisation of work in society.Substantiate your answer.
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