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The Sociologist of Informal Labour: Sharit Bhowmik, 1948-2016 Impact
Sharit Kumar Bhowmik

The Sociologist of Informal Labour: Sharit Bhowmik, 1948-2016

September 9, 2016 2969

Sharit Bhowmik

Sharit Kumar Bhowmik

Sharit Kumar Bhowmik, sociologist well known for his studies in labor and especially on the informal sector, passed away September 8 in Bangkok. He was in a coma for some time, having collapsed as complication of undiagnosed pneumonia in his hotel room. His wife and partner, Meenakshi, and his family were with him.

Bhowmik received his MA from Mumbai University and earned his doctorate from the Delhi University. His early work was on plantation labor in West Bengal. Subsequently he consolidated his work in the area of labor studies focusing on informal labor and labor rights.

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This article by the editors of eSocialSciences originally appeared on eSocialSciences, whose primary y focus is promote rigorous research in the social sciences and humanities on (and largely in) India and South Asia. It is reprinted with permission.

Ever an activist, Sharit’s scholarly positions on labor issues never wavered. He interacted closely with workers’ leaders and was never an ‘outsider’ in its sociological sense, to workers organizations, their core issues and the movement. He wrote extensively on workers’ cooperatives and workers’ organizations. While a supporter of the working class causes, he was also sharply critical of the functioning of trade unions, especially in recent times.

His career spanned a number of universities and institutions: He retired from the School of Labour and Management Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Before that he was at the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai; Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi; Indian Institute of Management Calcutta; University of North Bengal, Darjeeling District, West Bengal. Currently he was National Fellow with the Indian Council for Social Sciences.

His most important work, both in the scholarly world and as an activist, was his massive contribution to and leadership in the formalization of a policy on street vendors, which came about as a follow-through of his work on informal labor which began at a time when few labor scholars were focusing on this sector. Sharit wrote extensively, both in the academic press and in the media. For a time he co-edited with Professor Datta, the Labour Studies supplement of the Economic and Political Weekly. He had no hesitation in calling a spade a spade regardless of the fallout that it may prompt. Because of this, he was highly respected by his peers and labor leaders and activists, across the spectrum. Regardless of affiliations, he was always available to political, social and civil society activists.

Sharit was, more than anything else, a role model of a new generation sociologist who combined activism and scholarship seamlessly and effectively. He is mourned by his many students, whom he nurtured actively and sustainedly through their early careers; his colleagues and fellow workers who shared his space and vision, by the vast numbers of labor activists and workers whom he befriended and worked alongside. He will be sorely missed, especially in an environment that needs the broad-based, progressive vision, scholarship and activism of those like Sharit Bhowmik.


eSocialSciences is a a region-focused repository and a new and yet evolving publication space for easy and quick dissemination of scholarly work that can be a space for discourse among researchers, policy makers and the civil society. It's primary focus is to be a promoter of rigorous research in the social sciences and humanities on (and largely in) India and South Asia. It is a unit of IRIS Knowledge Foundation.

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Ranjan Ray

I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death of Sharit Bhowmick. I first met Sharit in Delhi in the second half of the 1980 s, when I joined the Economics Faculty at rhe Delhi School of Economics..Sharit was empolyed at the time as a Reader in the Deparetment of Sociology at Delhi School. I struck an instant friendhip with Sharit and spent many hours in his company till 1994 when Sharit left Delhi. I was very impressed with Sharit’s social awareness and his keen desire to help people with a poor quality of life. He wanted to… Read more »