Tiruppur town, in Tamilnadu state, was propelled to the center of India's cotton knitted
garment exports through in the last two decades of the 20th century. What is key about
industry in Tiruppur is that work has been organized through networks of small firms
integrated through intricate subcontracting arrangements controlled by local capital of the
Gounder caste, from modest agrarian and working-class origins. In effect the whole town
works like a decentralized factory for the global economy, with local capital of peasantworker …