Petty trading in the Third World : the case of Calcutta
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Petty trading in the Third World : the case of Calcutta
Avebury, c1992
Available at 13 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-358)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book attempts to present a coherent view of a low income urban activity as a developing totality of relations, while also introducing the wider sociopolitical setting. It analyzes the position of petty traders in Calcutta and the society and government which ignores and exploits them. The author reveals the link between capital, the role of the state and petty trading and shows how the changes in the urban and regional economy initiates changes within the petty trading sector affecting its position in the employment structure, its linkages and its sociodemographic composition. The sector itself is horizontally divided by ethnic and regional loyalties and layered by economic differentiation with each sub-group drawing on their own skills and community as they attempt to maximize return on their limited resources despite their dependent position and exploitative links with commercial capital. While the survival strategies of some allow stability and consolidation, the limited options available to others lead to reproduction under unacceptable conditions.
The conclusion is that it is necessary for the state to drop its laissez-faire policy and accept that it has an important role to play in these constantly emerging relationships and help the most vulnerable groups in the sector.
Table of Contents
- Accumulation, disparity and petty trading
- the setting - Calcutta in national and international economy
- the profile of petty traders of Calcutta
- linkage and interogation with the urban and regional economy
- success and survival strategies of petty traders
- implications for policy.
by "Nielsen BookData"