Book review: T. M. Thomas Isaac and Michelle Williams,Building Alternatives: The Story of India’s Oldest Construction Workers’ Cooperative

‘There Is No Alternative’ or in popular parlance TINA is an active buzzword in civil society where the narrative is that capitalism might be problematic but there is actually no alternative to it, both in terms of ideas or in practice, that has taken roots. Building Alternatives is an attempt to quell such narratives, which undermine any efforts of debates and discussions about the ills of capitalism and try to push forward the idea that capitalist relations of productions are indeed the only form of organising in society and any other ways are either not feasible or shall cease to work in the long run. Hence they help to preserve the status quo. The book is written by T. M. Thomas Isaac, a Kerala-based academic and politician, currently the state’s finance minister, and Michelle Williams who is based in South Africa and works as professor in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Building Alternatives traces the history of the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), in Kozhikode district, Kerala, a workers’ cooperative which was founded in the beginning of the 20th century and attempts to draw lessons from the society’s experiences. The book illustrates how despite many vicissitudes in the journey, ULCCS has been able to transform itself into a multi-crore enterprise today. Worker cooperatives are enterprises which are owned and managed by workers themselves. These cooperatives have a history of more than a century. Sometimes failing but they sometimes set a precedent for others to follow too. As mentioned by Vijay Prashad in the preface to the book, Karl Marx saw cooperatives as the ‘sprouts’ of new within an old mode of production. When the latter stage reaches a particular point of development, cooperatives, representing the alternative, begin to emerge from the womb of capitalism and even have the potential to supersede it.

Today, even after a decade of the 2008 financial meltdown, the world has still not recovered completely from its aftermath and the living standards for most people around the world has continue to fall. The failure of the Left movement to re-invent itself and to work on real alternatives was exploited by the right wing and ever since it is on a continued path of resurgence be it in the election of Donald Trump or recently in Brazil where the right wing political party is now helming the government. As a result there are increased attacks on democratic ethos and rights of individuals. It is at this juncture when there is a dire need of real alternatives for the people on one hand and the need to preserve democratic values on the other. Building Alternatives can shed light on the fact that not only is it possible for workers’ organisations, other than those of capitalist forms, to thrive but rather they have continued to do so for almost a century. They can also serve as a guide to action which you can see in this book which tries to draw lessons from the story of ULCCS that can be applied elsewhere.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each covering special aspects of the ULCCS in meticulous detail. The first chapter traces the earliest attempts made by people around the world in experimenting with workers’ cooperatives. This chapter also contextualises them in specific socio-economic situations in which they have emerged. Here, the authors distinguish the type of cooperatives on the basis of their origin: ‘Invited’, ‘Invented’ and, on the basis of their vision, ‘Efficient Business Model’ and ‘Alternative to Capitalism’. ‘Invited’ ones are those in which the state takes a lead and invites workers to set up worker cooperative while ‘Invented’ worker cooperatives are those which are set up through a bottoms-up approach by the efforts of workers but without the state’s initiatives. On the basis of vision worker cooperatives, there is the ‘Efficient Business Model’ when they see themselves not as an alternative to capitalism but just efficient forms of worker organisations within capitalism while the other category is ‘Alternative to Capitalism’ referring to those which seek to challenge capitalism through their cooperative. The ULCCS falls into the latter category in both aspects as it was founded only by efforts of workers and ever since it’s beginning envisioned a democratic and egalitarian world while not reducing itself to merely a ‘Efficient Business Model’.

The second chapter dwells into specificities of the radical anti-caste philosophical movement which swept Kerala in the 19th century and went on to create a fertile ground for the ULCCS to emerge.The vivid details in this chapter give important insights into the philosophies of Vagbhatanand and Sree Narayan Guru, social reformers who stirred the consciousness of people at that time. The chapter traces the formation of atma vidya sangham, a study group formed to study atma vidya or self-knowledge in gatherings in which Vagbhatanand was giving his eloquent discourses against caste discrimination and idol worshipping. Years later, the atma vidya sangham goes on to set up the ULCCS. In the third chapter, the infancy of the ULCCS is traced and the problems it had to face in the initial phase are discussed—which ranges from obtaining contracts to arranging finance. Although authors do not go into the details of what exactly the role cooperatives played in the anti-colonial struggle they do suggest that the communist movement that had taken roots strongly in the region had a positive impact on the egalitarian ideals of the cooperative.

How ULCCS faced other issues, like the ones that rose with the need to expand membership and the eventual expansion of ULCCS with the much-required modernisation of construction that it underwent are detailed in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter specifically discusses the People’s Plan Campaign that was launched to achieve decentralisation in governance, under which 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the state’s budget was to be used as decided by local bodies and further it details how the ULCCS model was applied in other labour contract societies throughout Kerala. The sixth chapter covers the successful attempt by the ULCCS to diversify itself as it matured with time. The seventh chapter discusses the impact of change in technology on labour relations within the cooperative and also discusses plans of the ULCCS to modernise and expand capabilities so as to avoid sub-contracting. The eighth chapter sheds light on the socio-economic background of workers. It goes on to discuss the comparatively better working conditions at the ULCCS vis-à-vis other capitalist firms. This can be inferred from the data provided in the book. In the private sector, workers get a daily wage of ₹374 a day while in cooperatives they make ₹554 a day and in addition to that their requirements for lodging and food is met by the cooperative so they end up saving 75–80 per cent of their income. Further, the caste composition of the workers and membership related issues with respect to migrant workers is discussed which shows that the cooperative still have a majority of workers from the backward class: however, the gender composition of it is not clear.

The final and the concluding chapter is dedicated to drawing lessons from the experiences of the ULCCS. The dominant understanding that worker cooperatives degenerate into the capitalist form with time is questioned. What is the kind of government support that is required by the worker cooperatives? What can be their constraints for profit maximisation? These questions are addressed and though there is an appreciable attempt on the part of authors to draw general lessons from the experience of the ULCCS which can be applied elsewhere the highly specific socio-economic environment in which ULCCS grew cannot be overlooked so how much these lessons are of any help to us is yet to be seen.

There are instances where the language appears to be one of political rhetoric which can be explained because one of the authors is a political figure and is currently as a serving finance minister of Kerala. The claims of support that the ULCCS got from the Left government when it came into power are not without substance.

The book is written in a lucid manner which therefore addresses a wider audience and not just academia. But those belonging to the disciplines of Development Studies, Labour Studies, Economics, Sociology and Public Policy should place it on their reading list. It will not only help them understand the distant past, when the alternatives to capitalist mode of production were around, but it is also a guide to action for building more such alternatives.