Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies, 1838-1918 (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture) (Paperback)

by Walton Look Lai (Author) "The nineteenth century saw a number of dramatic developments in the world of sugar production which had a somewhat negative impact on the British West..." (more)
Key Phrases: annual immigration report, indenture experiment, immigration experiment, British Guiana, West Indies, West Indian (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A work of rich scholarship... Look Lai proves an adept and perceptive labor historian. His sensitive depiction of the world of the indentured East Asian workers of Trinidad and British Guyana is easily the best available: it is a notable achievement that sets a high standard for future research on the topic." -- Labor History

"This carefully researched book... thoughtfully compares the experiences and responses of the Chinese and Indians as they settled in and became part of these colonial societies, the former often moving into trade and the later largely remaining in agriculture... A well written study, highly recommended for students of Asian-American and Caribbean studies, and migration history." -- Choice

"Look Lai's excellent book... is the first 'integrated' history of Asian migration to the Caribbean which incorporates (and often compares) the experiences of both Asian groups... illuminating an important chapter in Caribbean history." -- Journal of Caribbean History

"Important not only for the study of Atlantic history and culture, but also for the comparative study of migration, labor coercion, and the effects of labor segmentation in the labor process... It is an excellent book, thoroughly researched, clearly organized, and well written, and it deserves a wide audience." -- International Labor and Working Class History

"Should be required reading for Caribbeanists, scholars of Asian diasporas, and labor historians." -- New West Indian Guide

"A most welcome addition to the growing literature on Asian migration to the West Indies... well structured and well written." -- International Review of Social History

"Sound in its scholarship and detailed in its findings... A fine piece of work." -- Brian L. Moore, Business History Review

""Well-researched and lucidly written... Look Lai's excellent study puts us all in his debt." -- Sunday Guardian (Trinidad)

"Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar provides fascinating detail on the origin and implementation of the indentured labor system in British Guiana, Trinidad, and Jamaica... filled with a solid array of well-researched details." -- Surendra Bhana, SAFUNDI: The Journal of South African and American Studies

Product Description
In Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar Walton Look Lai offers the first comprehensive study of Asian immigration and the indenture system in the entire British West Indies—with particular emphasis on the experiences of indentured laborers in the major receiving colonies of British Guyana, Trinidad, and Jamaica. Exploring living and working conditions as well as the makeup of immigrant communities and their cultures, Look Lai offers a "dialectical pluralist" model of Caribbean acculturation that contrasts with the more familiar "melting pot" or "pure pluralist" model.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (January 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801877466
• ISBN-13: 978-0801877469
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #353,504 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look Lai has produced an excellent historical text., January 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies, 1838-1918 (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture) (Hardcover)

Look Lai has presented an in-depth analysis of Chinese and East Indian immigrants who migrated from their home countries and went to new lands in the West Indies where there worked in sugar plantations as indentured laborers. His hybridization thesis is refreshing and brings to light the different cultural experiences these immigrants had in the British colonies of Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana. I recommend this text to anyone interested in learning about the history of plantation labor in the 19th. century and about the tumultuous events that occurred. This author is the only one so far who has investigated the West Indian Chinese and East Indian cultures together and he has worked to put the text into its correct historical context. Easy to read. A must for those who want to read about how two races, Chinese and East Indians, had ethnic tensions within their own cultural backgrounds: the caste system delineated who was higher in rank and who was at the bottom for those who came originally from India, and the Hakka/Cantonese differences were pre-emminent. Look Lai proves that the precursor of events that took place, the British immigration laws, the indentureship system, the riot incidents, and the tensions among the white plantocracy and freed slaves and indentured laborers, paved the way for the political and economic problems of the 20th. century. I enjoyed the book tremendously. Henrietta Akit. B.A. Hons.in History, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANCESTORS BEGIN HERE, July 4, 2001

By	waheda mohammed (hillside, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies, 1838-1918 (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture) (Hardcover)

THIS IS A TRUE STORY OF THE PEOPLES THAT CAME TO THE ISLAND,I AM AN EAST INDIAN AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I FINALY CAN HAVE A BOOK THAT RELATES TO MY EAST INDIAN ANCESTORS.AND IF LUCK HAS ITS WAY,KNOW THE NAMES OF MY GREAT GREAT GRAND PARENTS THAT JOURNEYED ACROSS THE VAST SEAS TO MAKE A HOME IN THE WEST INDIES.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family ties to ex-indentured servants, July 20, 2008

By	Elba Conde Latuff - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those wanting to explore an indepth account of indenture this is a reliable and enlightning source. If you have a passion for Caribbean literature, having read this book will make the Caribbean novels you read come alive, because it gives the historical account of how the Chinese and Indian migrants arrived in the West Indies and of all the vicissitudes they endured. For many years the focus of intelectuals had centered on the arrival of the African slaves and their work in the sugar cane plantations of the West Indies. Now, Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar allows us to have a full picture of the migrants that constitute the greater part of the population of former colonies like Trinidad and British Guiana, among others, and establishes a basis for comparison between the two waves of migrations: the imposed African migration and the latter "voluntary" one described in this book.