Abstract
This paper explores discourses about industry by looking at the representations of the past formulated by owners, workers and trade union leaders in the cities of surat and Bhiwandi. Drawing upon literature on social memory as well as upon Scott's discussion of 'weapons of the weak', it argues that current circumstances of different social groupings in these cities and their views of prospects for change in the future have a profound effect on the ways they view owner-employer relations before 1960. A particular focus here is with the willingness of different participants in the textile industry to accept a portrayal of past relations as having been 'like a family'. For workers, nostalgic attitudes and more critical recollections both serve as means ofcontesting a present characterised by serious strains between capital and labour, by serious fears of losing work, and by widely shared perceptions that collective action is futile: These views of history are contrasted with those of owners on the one hand and labour activists on the other.
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