Introduction: employment relations in India—old narratives and new perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article establishes an overarching conceptual, historical and academic context for approaching Indian industrial relations (IR). The Introduction explores changing comparative approaches to the ‘IR System’ of a developing country in light of India's complex and unique employment realities. Then we trace, in two parts, the evolution of Indian IR since independence and argue that theories developed in the West are of only limited value in understanding this. In conclusion, we consider the way in which Indian academic IR and other social science disciplines have addressed this problem. This leads on to the four research articles that complete this special edition.