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Here’s a summary table with key quotes from the book Invisible Labour: Support Service Workers in India’s Information Technology Industry by Winifred R. Poster, organized by themes relevant to support service workers in the Indian IT sector:
📘 Summary Table: Key Themes & Quotes – Invisible Labour
By Winifred R. Poster
| Theme | Key Insights | Notable Quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Invisibility of Labour | Support service workers (like security guards, janitors, food service staff) are crucial to the functioning of IT campuses but remain under-recognized. | "Their work makes the glamorous IT industry possible, yet they remain on the margins—unseen and unheard." |
| Class & Caste Dynamics | Structural inequalities around caste and class deeply affect the treatment and visibility of these workers. | "Caste may be banned by law, but it is not absent from the tech campuses—it hides in the kitchens and the cleaning closets." |
| Gendered Labour | Women, especially in housekeeping and cafeteria roles, face layered vulnerabilities related to gender, safety, and informal work. | "While male IT employees code in glass offices, women scrub the floors beneath them—often without contracts or protections." |
| Labour Hierarchies | The outsourcing model creates tiered layers of employment—core IT workers are permanent; support workers are outsourced and precarious. | "Outsourcing didn’t just reduce costs—it reproduced a hierarchy that kept certain workers in permanent insecurity." |
| Spatial Segregation | Physical boundaries within the tech campuses reflect and reinforce social divisions. | "The food courts were shared, but the seating wasn’t—some chairs were more equal than others." |
| Resistance & Agency | Despite difficult conditions, workers show subtle forms of resistance—solidarity, slowdowns, or quitting en masse. | "Their resistance wasn’t loud, but it was strategic—refusing extra shifts, demanding better meals, or simply walking out." |
| Global Capital, Local Inequity | The global IT economy depends on local support labour that remains deeply unequal and exploitative. | "Global flows of capital sit on the fragile shoulders of local inequalities." |
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