It is necessary to interrogate the experiences of workers in India in the context of neoliberal policies that are being advanced by the Indian state. We engage with workers from marginal spaces in India such as refugees, informal economy workers, contract workers and trade union activists to understand how the discourses of modernity structure insecurities for workers. Modernity legitimises the corporation as an agent of economic development and the rights of workers are subordinated to the economic interests of the corporation. Further, modernity authorises cultural majoritarian provisions which lead to the experience of ethnic violence. Finally, modernity structures experiences of illegality for workers in the informal economy leading to an erosion of their rights.