Global "Body Shopping"

199 Pages·2007·1.488 MB·English

by  Xiang Biao

Global “Body Shopping”
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Global “Body Shopping”
An Indian Labor System in the Information
Technology Industry
Xiang Biao
princeton university press
princeton and oxford
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Copyright © 2007 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1SY
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Xiang, Biao.
Global “body shopping”: An Indian labor system in the information technology
industry / Xiang Biao.
p. cm. — (In-formation series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-691-11851-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-691-11851-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-691-11852-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-691-11852-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1.Electronic data processing personnel—India. 2. Labor mobility—India.
3.India—Emigration and immigration. I. Title. II. Series.
HD8039.D372I48 2007
331.12(cid:2)7910954—dc22 2006010309
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon with Futura display
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
pup.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
List of Illustrations, Tables, Boxes vii
Acronyms ix
Prologue: A Stranger’s Adventure xiii
Acknowledgments xxi
Introduction 1
Body Shopping: Brief Overview 4
Ethnicization, Individualization, and Transnationalization 7
Structure of the Book 11
Chapter 1The Global Niche for Body Shopping 13
“Financial Democracy” and the Virtual Shortage of IT Labor 14
War for IT Talent and Wall of Regulation 19
Chapter 2Producing “IT People” in Andhra 24
“D-Shops” and “T-Shops” 26
“Have Lands in Andhra, Have a House in Hyderabad,
and Have a Job in America” 30
Producing IT People as a Family Business 34
Chapter 3Selling “Bodies” and Selling Jobs 39
Fee-Paying Workers and Body Shops in Hyderabad 43
India as the Nexus of Global Body Shopping 48
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CONTENTS
Chapter 4Business of “Branded Labor” in Sydney 53
“Marketing and Development Are Totally Different Stories” 57
“Only Indians Can Handle Indians” 59
Overlapping Businesses 62
Same Roof, Different Hats 65
Chapter 5Agent Chains and Benching 70
Differentiated Circles 75
“Indians Are the Most Dangerous Ones!” 77
Overbooking Seats on the Bench 80
Chapter 6Compliant Bodies? 82
Interlocks between Body Shops and Community Associations 86
Workers as Intermediaries 90
Relations among Workers: Support Yes, Solidarity No 92
The Way Out 97
Chapter 7The World System of Body Shopping 100
The United States of America: “Mecca for IT People” 102
Global Gateways: Singapore, Malaysia, and the Middle East 104
U.S. Satellites: The Caribbean and Latin America 107
New Frontiers: “Sind Sie Inder?” and “Is There a
German Dream?” 108
Ending Remarks The “Indian Triangle”
in the Global IT Industry 110
Appendix Essay The Remembered Fieldwork Sites:
Impressions and Images 117
Biographical Index of Informants 129
Notes 149
References 167
Index 173
vi
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Illustrations, Tables, Boxes
Figure1. My Journey xviii
Table1. Vijay Naidu’s Balance Sheet 47
Box1. A Job Contract Letter 84
Box2. “Mutual Understandings” 87
Figure2. The “Indian Triangle” in the Global IT Industry 113
Figure3. By Indians and for Indians 118
Figure4. A Street in Ashfield 119
Figure5. A Bedroom Shared by Four Telugu IT Workers 121
Figure6. Aditya Enclave 122
Figure7. Cyber Tower 123
Figure8. Typical House, Jubilee Hills 124
Figure9. Visu Consultancy 125
Figure10.KachchaHouses 126
Figure11. A Corner of a Village 127
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Acronyms
ACS Australian Computer Society
ANZ Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
AP Andhra Pradesh
APESM Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and
Managers (Australia)
B2B business to business
B2C business to customer
BCA Bachelor of Computer Applications
BPO business process outsourcing
CAPSTRANS Center for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies
CBD central business district
C-DOT Center for Development of Telematics
CEO chief executive officer
CTE Commissionerate of Technical Education (Andhra
Pradesh)
DCITA Department of Communications, Information
Technology and the Arts (Australia)
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