Workers’ Exploitation in Pakistan’s Textile Industry Under Right-Wing Governance: A Marxist Historical Analysis

Abstract

1. Pakistan’s textile industry, which contributes over 60% of export earnings, employs millions while perpetuating widespread worker exploitation, particularly under right-wing governance. This study adopts a Marxist historical materialist framework to explore how regimes such as General Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorship (1977–1988), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) (1990s, 2013–2018), and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) (2018–2022) have exacerbated labor exploitation and class conflict. Through historical review, policy analysis, and empirical synthesis, the research illustrates that right-wing policies, aligned with global capitalism, prioritize capital accumulation over labor rights, leading to low wages, unsafe conditions, and suppressed unions. The findings reveal a systemic bourgeois dominance, offering a critique of local-global dynamics and a call for proletarian empowerment.