Jensine Raihan
Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS)
West Bengal, India
I was inspired to work with Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), because I had just come back from Latin America, and there I had the privilege of getting acquainted with social movements, labor organizations, parties, and other people’s organizations all around the Global South. I was struck by how many organizations are made up of hundreds of thousands of members, with few or no paid staff members. Further, most of these staff members hold other jobs.
How can these organizations retain so many members with so little staff? It demonstrates their ability to create and retain truly compelling and democratic mass organizations. Additionally, most militants of the organizations have a very sharp class consciousness, something I don’t see quite as often in the States, where most people are accustomed to “privilege” talk based on identity as opposed to understanding our world as a manufactured class-based society. By the end of the summer, I had a better sense of the extent to which developing a class consciousness among people is crucial in our movement.
Since that exposure, I have been interested in learning about how Global Southern mass-based organizations organize, build up their organizations, participate in movements, and develop class consciousness among their base.
When I came back to New York, I had many questions, one being the possibility of building a united, coordinated working-class movement internationally, given the globalized nature of capitalism and the global system that provides tremendous wealth for the few as a result of the horrendous poverty that many live in. I wanted to begin answering that question by learning about the organizations and organizing methods of people’s movements in India.
I learned a lot working with PBKMS, including the critical need of people’s organizations to work hyperlocally. It is important to work locally even if the organization grows geographically because organizations need to deal with the immediate concerns of its members while engaging them in larger struggles.
One of the founding members did mention, however, that PBKMS worked with South Asian migrant workers who were being super-exploited in Southeast Asia. Organizations would contact PBKMS and then help reunite workers with their families and do solidarity actions. However, the organization is not engaged in that work currently.
I am still left with the question I came in with, but I think getting familiar with how PBKMS and its sister organization, Shramajivee Mahila Samity (Working Women’s Union), do their work has helped develop and understand my question better.
Additionally, I wrote in detail about the organization’s functions and what I have learned on my personal blog, and I encourage people to check it out if they are interested.