Abstract
By analysing the industrial conflict that has affected the Indian Maruti Suzuki since 2011/2012, the
article reflects on the meaning of the lean manufacturing paradigm today. It explores what continues
to make it dominant, and the ultimate frontiers it has reached. It argues that its global significance
could not have been established without the exploitation of local labour regimes, and without
stretching their competitive advantage to the detriment of workers. In particular, the desirable
condition now sought at global level is the possibility of relying on regimes based on high levels of
casualisation, allowing the progressive “substitution” of permanent workers. However, as the Maruti
case also reveals, working-class composition and the sustainability of the local labour process can
generate mechanisms and unexpected alliances that could potentially destabilise the system. Indeed,
the case shows how corporate strategies intended to fragment and depoliticise labour, inbuilt into the
paradigm, were directly challenged and encountered resistance. Ultimately, though, the case also shows
how, without strong legal and political support, the potential of a labour movement can be suffocated
by institutionalised violence. In this sense, lean reacts, and the despotic imposition of consent becomes
visible as never before.