The contributors to this volume suggest that the idea of a "pure" working class should be reconsidered and examine specific South Asian and Latin American case studies. A large part of the working class in the so-called third world and also in the main capitalist countries is either free (but coerced through noneconomic means) or does hidden work (e.g. as formally self-employed producers). By rethinking the fundamental assumptions of "classical" labor and working-class history, the volume contributes to the development of a noneurocentric historiography.