Acid violence is embedded in larger macro-political and economic structures that sustain gender domination and perpetuate new forms of gender inequality. This article argues that increasing incidences of acid violence in South Asia and especially in India would benefit from the structural analysis that takes into account impacts from socioeconomic structures that reinforce gender inequality. In contemplating a systemic redress mechanism, structural analysis is used to enlarge legal norms. The article proposes a model of transformative justice that involves centrality of state responsibility as a catalyst for social change.

Automation impacts employment and wage levels at the micro-level, and the structure of employment-shift at the macro-level. Job polarisation is defined as the automation of 'middleskill' jobs that require routine cognitive and manual applications while high and low-skill occupations are preserved. This paper examines the nature of job polarisation in India during the period 1983-2012 when Indian manufacturing was being gradually automated. The research uses disaggregated data from National Sample Survey Office and examines supply-side factors such as nature of employment growth in manufacture and presence of educated labour force which have not been adequately analysed before. The study has three observations. First, only the increased demand for high-skilled workers in the formal sector is due to skill-bias of technology conforming to theoretical expectation. Second, the transition of agricultural labourers has been to low-skill manufacturing sectors such as construction and textiles signalling distress in traditional manufacturing to provide employment. Third, oversupply of secondary and tertiary educated labour force has squeezed out middle-skilled workers from middle-skill jobs to relatively low-skill manufacturing and service occupations, explaining the persistence of routine occupations. The study concludes that increased demand for high and low-skill jobs has co-existed with the persistence of middle-skill jobs in India.

No abstract

Automation impacts employment and wage levels at the micro-level, and the structure of employment-shift at the macro-level. Job polarisation is defined as the automation of 'middleskill' jobs that require routine cognitive and manual applications while high and low-skill occupations are preserved. This paper examines the nature of job polarisation in India during the period 1983-2012 when Indian manufacturing was being gradually automated. The research uses disaggregated data from National Sample Survey Office and examines supply-side factors such as nature of employment growth in manufacture and presence of educated labour force which have not been adequately analysed before. The study has three observations. First, only the increased demand for high-skilled workers in the formal sector is due to skill-bias of technology conforming to theoretical expectation. Second, the transition of agricultural labourers has been to low-skill manufacturing sectors such as construction and textiles signalling distress in traditional manufacturing to provide employment. Third, oversupply of secondary and tertiary educated labour force has squeezed out middle-skilled workers from middle-skill jobs to relatively low-skill manufacturing and service occupations, explaining the persistence of routine occupations. The study concludes that increased demand for high and low-skill jobs has co-existed with the persistence of middle-skill jobs in India.

No abstract