Accepting Quote by Aruna Roy
“We call people who work with mud and earth, and sand and stone, unskilled labor in India. I cannot in this lifetime wield the implements that they use either to dig the earth or to shovel the earth. I can't carry the loads. That's extremely specialized. But they are called unskilled, and I am called skilled because I can write with the pen. I cannot accept this. I find it extremely non-egalitarian to say they are unskilled and I am skilled. It's only a way of looking at it. Knowledge is also like that.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Unskilled Labor, 2005
Labeling manual workers as “unskilled” while valuing pen‑based work creates inequality and devalues knowledge.
In simple terms: Skill labels are unfair.
Key Takeaway
Challenge skill hierarchies.
Themes
social justice
labor rights
knowledge hierarchy
Mood
critical
activist
Type
sociopolitical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- policy advocacy
- education reform
- community organizing
Key Concepts
egalitarianism
sociology of work
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we redefine “skill”?
- What policies promote equal respect for all work?
A Different Perspective
Economic value of manual labor can be quantified differently.
