The essentials
Class-based movements arise from conflicts over wages, land, rent and working conditions. They are often seen as "old" social movements because they focus on economic inequality and are organised by parties or unions.
Workers' movements grew with factories in colonial India. Early trade unions emerged around the end of the First World War, and the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in 1920. After independence, major unions became linked to political parties. Union strength was greatest in the organised sector; the long Bombay textile strike of 1982 showed both workers' determination and the difficulties unions faced as mills closed. With liberalisation and the growth of contract work, organising workers has become harder.
Peasant movements included the Champaran Satyagraha (1917) against forced indigo cultivation, the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) against increased land revenue, and the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (1936). The Tebhaga movement (1946–47) in Bengal was a struggle of sharecroppers demanding two-thirds of the harvest instead of half. The Telangana movement (1946–51) was an armed struggle against feudal landlords in the princely state of Hyderabad. The Naxalbari uprising of 1967 also began as a peasant revolt.
From the 1970s, new farmers' movements emerged in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and elsewhere. Led by market-oriented farmers, they demanded better crop prices and lower input costs and used tactics such as road blockades. Examples include the Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra and the Bharatiya Kisan Union in the north.
Key points
- Relative deprivation theory: movements arise when people feel deprived compared with others.
- Resource mobilisation theory: success depends on organisation, leadership and resources.
- New farmers' movements were non-party and focused on market prices.
Common mistakes
Do not confuse the Tebhaga demand (two-thirds share) with a demand for land ownership.