This book traces various interesting aspects of the story of Indian labor from the eighteenth century to the present day, assessing the degrees of continuity with past practice, and whether the modern assumptions about work--its separation from other aspects of daily life, its commoditization, its class implications--have often been reflected in Indian experience. The essays propose a number of general points on how ideological and religious ferment accompanies economic change, and also treat particulars that resonate against entrenched social conditions and attitudes. As a whole the book forms a comparative story of the concepts of labor and of social hierarchy.