‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery
Under systems of indenture in the Caribbean, Europeans such as Irish, Scots and Portuguese, as well as Asians, primarily Indians, Chinese and Indonesians, were recruited, often under false pretences, and transported to the ‘New World’, where they were bound to an employer and the plantation in a sta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women
2017-09-01
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| Series: | Anti-Trafficking Review |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/263 |
| _version_ | 1827958587515731968 |
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| author | Kamala Kempadoo |
| author_facet | Kamala Kempadoo |
| author_sort | Kamala Kempadoo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Under systems of indenture in the Caribbean, Europeans such as Irish, Scots and Portuguese, as well as Asians, primarily Indians, Chinese and Indonesians, were recruited, often under false pretences, and transported to the ‘New World’, where they were bound to an employer and the plantation in a state of ‘interlocking incarceration’. Indentureship not only preceded, co-existed with, and survived slavery in the Caribbean, but was distinct in law and in practice from slavery. This article argues that the conditions of Caribbean indenture can be seen to be much more analogous to those represented in contemporary discussions about human trafficking and ‘modern slavery’ than those of slavery. Caribbean histories of indenture, it is proposed, can provide more appropriate conceptual tools for thinking about unfree labour today—whether state or privately sponsored—than the concept of slavery, given the parallels between this past migrant labour system in the Caribbean and those we witness and identify today as ‘modern slavery’ or human trafficking. This article thus urges a move away from the conflation of slavery and human trafficking with all forced, bonded and migrant labour, as is commonly the case, and for greater attention for historical evidence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:38:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7408bf3153a74d1e9ed6a678b5e6c81a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2286-7511 2287-0113 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:38:49Z |
| publishDate | 2017-09-01 |
| publisher | Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anti-Trafficking Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-7408bf3153a74d1e9ed6a678b5e6c81a2023-04-27T16:20:14ZengGlobal Alliance Against Traffic in WomenAnti-Trafficking Review2286-75112287-01132017-09-019486310.14197/atr.20121794225‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slaveryKamala KempadooUnder systems of indenture in the Caribbean, Europeans such as Irish, Scots and Portuguese, as well as Asians, primarily Indians, Chinese and Indonesians, were recruited, often under false pretences, and transported to the ‘New World’, where they were bound to an employer and the plantation in a state of ‘interlocking incarceration’. Indentureship not only preceded, co-existed with, and survived slavery in the Caribbean, but was distinct in law and in practice from slavery. This article argues that the conditions of Caribbean indenture can be seen to be much more analogous to those represented in contemporary discussions about human trafficking and ‘modern slavery’ than those of slavery. Caribbean histories of indenture, it is proposed, can provide more appropriate conceptual tools for thinking about unfree labour today—whether state or privately sponsored—than the concept of slavery, given the parallels between this past migrant labour system in the Caribbean and those we witness and identify today as ‘modern slavery’ or human trafficking. This article thus urges a move away from the conflation of slavery and human trafficking with all forced, bonded and migrant labour, as is commonly the case, and for greater attention for historical evidence.https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/263indenturetransatlantic slaverymodern slaveryhuman traffickingcaribbean |
| spellingShingle | Kamala Kempadoo ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery Anti-Trafficking Review indenture transatlantic slavery modern slavery human trafficking caribbean |
| title | ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| title_full | ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| title_fullStr | ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| title_short | ‘Bound Coolies’ and Other Indentured Workers in the Caribbean: Implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| title_sort | bound coolies and other indentured workers in the caribbean implications for debates about human trafficking and modern slavery |
| topic | indenture transatlantic slavery modern slavery human trafficking caribbean |
| url | https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/263 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kamalakempadoo boundcooliesandotherindenturedworkersinthecaribbeanimplicationsfordebatesabouthumantraffickingandmodernslavery |