Changing Nature of Workers Participation in Freedom Struggle

Abstract

The Indian freedom struggle was not led only by political leaders; the working class played a very important role in it. This paper studies the changing nature of workers’ participation in the national movement from the 1920s to the 1940s. It explains how workers moved from local economic protests to active political participation against British rule. The study focuses on three major phases of the freedom struggle – the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience Movement, and the Quit India Movement. During these phases, workers in factories, railways, plantations, and mills became more organized, politically aware, and fearless. Their role changed from demanding better wages and working conditions to directly challenging colonial authority. The paper also examines the workers’ movement from a subaltern perspective and highlights how labour participation strengthened the national struggle. It concludes that the working class provided mass support, discipline, and revolutionary energy, making the freedom struggle more inclusive and powerful.