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In this paper, we deal with one form of bonded labour generating under the brokerage system. We have led a qualitative survey in a small village of South India to study the phenomenon of brokerage. In this village, labourers are seasonal migrants who in order to migrate, take advance from brokers. The village is characterised by a high number of brokers who are in competition to attract labourers to their team. In this environment, labourers have the bargaining power to demand high amount of advance. Therefore, brokers bond them in order to reduce their bargaining power and to avoid competition.

The concept of social capital has known unrelenting success over recent years. However, some ambiguities continue to surround the topic. Several authors have spelled out the link between social capital and trust, but there has been limited empirical analysis focusing on the creation of trust and the ensuing link with social capital. The purport of this article is to carry out such an analysis.

The article presents some results of a research led in the brick kiln industry in the State of Tamil Nadu, India. The research was based on a qualitative and quantitative survey. The study analyses the dependency relationship between labourers/middlemen.

The article shows that all the actors involved in the brick kiln industry are linked to one another by the middlemen.

The study brings forward the role of trust in the make‐up of networks and the negative effects that its absence leads to in the structure of networks.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight that child labour is complementary to adult labour in the brick kiln industry.

The paper presents a case study of bonded labourers in the brick kiln industry of Southeast India.

The paper finds that child labour is used by parents in the moulding process in order to avoid falling into debt bondage. In this industry, brick making is organized as a home‐based enterprise. Thus, child labour increases the family productivity and consequently its income. In case of a ban on child labour bonded parents will be worse‐off. NGOs can play an essential role by preventing families from falling into bondage and by improving their living standards.

The results may help the NGOs address child labour issues in the developing world.