Lazy' Natives, Coolie Labour, and the Assam Tea Industry

Bibliographic Data

ID3619488
AuthorsJayeeta Sharma (University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume43
Issue6
Pages1287-1324
Publication date2009-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x08003831
OpenAlexW2100304267
LanguageEN
Citations received43
References cited14

This paper considers the creation of a 'coolie' work-force for the Assam tea industry and the local dimensions of tea plantation enterprise. While the industry has flourished through its use of migrant labour and export markets for tea, it has retained important connections with the locality. The Assam tea industry was a predominantly colonial enterprise manned by white British planters. It allowed participation, albeit in subordinate and dependent roles, by local peasants and gentry, though mainly based on the labour of migrant 'coolies' recruited on indentured contracts. The prominence of 'imported' coolie workers has obscured the significance of various local groups as well as the tea industry's importance in the local 'imagination'. Despite the gradual development of nationalist antagonism towards the white 'Planters' Raj', tea enterprise retained a hallowed place for the Assamese middle classes, as tea workers continued as a racialized labouring class

Assamese · Business · Capitalism · Colonialism · Economics · Economy · Gentry · Geography · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · White (mutation · Work (physics · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Engineering · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub