This pioneering collection of essays brings together a description and analysis of women workers and the socio-economic systems of plantations world-wide. The plantation remains a formidable force in many areas of the world and new trends towards tree farming call for further examination of its agriculture. Women have, in the past, constituted a considerable precentage of the work force in this milieu, and continue to do so.Using specific case studies of historical and contemporary plantations, an account is given of the history of female labour, focusing on the colonial and post-colonial eras. The essays examine reasons for women's degraded status and emphasize, in particular, issues relating to migrant workers.The gradual move away from traditional family roles is, to some extent, reflected in variations in the position of the female plantation worker. However, where inequalities in class and status continue to characterize plantation life, capitalist and patriarchal control prevails.Both chilling and bracing, the sufferings of plantation labourers may seem remote to most of us, but they are still very much part of the contemporary world. Providing a close insight into the lives of the female protagonists, these essays have given an opportunity for their stories to be heard.

Also available in hardback, 9781859739723 GBP50.00 (May, 1998)

About the Author
Shobita Jain IGNOU, New DelhiRhoda Reddock University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Reviews
'The literature on plantations [...] has been substantial. Attention to women workers has, however, been scattered and sparse. The book fills a gap both in the history of post-colonial states and that of the economic expansion of Europe.'Oxford: The Journal of the Oxford Society'The book should arouse concern or interest on several counts: the fate or otherwise in the future, of poorly educated women workers, with limited skills, trapped, if to some extent liberated, from patriarchal dominanace, on commercial plantations; how far plantations cause migration, re-alignment of gender roles, and the blending of cultures.'Anthropology in Action'Women Plantation Workers encourages us to think in fresh and expansive ways.'American Anthropologist



Book Information
ISBN 9781859739778
Author Shobita Jain
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Berg Publishers
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 600g