Beyond the Disaster: Communities of Practice and Statuses of Labor among Bhopal’s Metalworkers

In analyzing the labor relations and representations of informal sector’s metalworkers in Old Bhopal, where scars disaster caused by Union Carbide factory are still visible, this paper goes beyond to study everyday laboring lives metalworkers. It argues that though sector as a market is extremely loose precarious, fairly structured norms values shaping statutory positions regarding levels skills experience less volatile than itself. These statuses holding worker’s scattered trajectories together communities practice; claims mastery have be proven during concrete working process. However, scarcity employment everlasting competition, make upward mobilities erratic collective resistances difficult. The ideal independence often conceals fact ownership workshop mostly reserved for heirs. no value outside work North Bhopal’s poor settlements workers, precarious generally Muslim dwellers, face an acute marginalization. As frequently failing breadwinners, they striving live up dominant masculine norms. also insists on bridge between daily strife against precariousness long-lasting struggle inclusion city.