Why Should We Be Called 'Coolies'?

This book examines the end of a labour system which lasted from 1838 until 1920 in various territories throughout the British Empire. It provides a comparative study of the abolition of the Indian indentureship system and shows the global interconnectedness of this abolition.
Note: Not for sale in South Asia.

Radica Mahase is Senior Lecturer, History, at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago. She has a PhD, History from UWI, St. Augustine and a MA in Indian History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was a Commonwealth Visiting Scholar at the University of Manchester.

Introduction 1. Indian Indentureship in Context 2. Imperialist Structures 3. 'Resistance from Within': Labourer's Resistance against Indentureship 4. Fighting the System: Middle-class Indian Protests in Labour-importing Territories 5. Why Should We Be Called 'Coolies'?: Agitation in the 'Mother Country' 6. Imperial Reconsiderations, Policy and Abolition 7. Conclusion