"Labour, Nature and Capitalism is a carefully researched as well as theoretically astute book on a subject of vital importance to India and the world. Based on fieldwork in Kerala, Dr Silpa Satheesh studies the tensions between grassroots environmental groups and trade unions, analysing how factory labour finds itself in opposition to other, even more vulnerable sections, of the working-class. Importantly, she explores both the organizational as well as affective aspects of struggle, allowing activists to speak loud and clear in their own voices. Through her work, Dr Satheesh convincingly demonstrates that the conventional polarity of ‘environment versus development’ is false and even pernicious."

Ramachandra Guha, author of Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism

"This work is an important contribution to an understudied and weakly understood arena, the relationship between trade unions and environmental movements. While anecdotal accounts of the tensions (and sometimes complementarities) between the two movements are common, detailed and systematic studies are not. Given the urgent need to bring these movements together to challenge capitalist exploitation and unsustainability, this study is very timely."

Ashish Kothari, environmental activist and author

"There are many environmental grassroots movements in the state of Kerala. This fascinating book focuses on the Periyar River gravely and persistently polluted by discharges of "company water". Competent activists have denounced the environmental and public health damages for many years, counting on support from farmers and fishers. However, another section of the working class, smaller in number but more powerful politically, the industrial trade unions - together with factory owners and the state administration- accuses them of being at the service of "anti-national" interests. By poignant, long outspoken interviews with members of both opposite groups and thorough documentation, the sociologist Silpa Satheesh brilliantly answers a question of world relevance – is there an environmentalism of the working class?"

Joan Martinez Alier, Autonomous University of Barcelona