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The Legacy of Indentured Labor

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The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity

Abstract

This chapter will present and discuss the system of indentured labor established by the British Empire during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a new form of labor acquisition for the colonies. The indentured labor system was created in response to the British Abolition of Slavery Act of 1833. This chapter will outline the nature of the indentured labor system, why it was started, and how it functioned. It will then examine how such a migrant labor system impacted upon both the migrants and receiving colonies, paying particular attention to the notion of ethnicity and the development of multiethnic communities. Mauritius is one such host society that dramatically changed due to the impact of indentured labor migrants arriving on its shores; it will therefore serve as a useful case study to examine the significant role indentured labor has played in the formation of Mauritian society today.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anthropology, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Kathleen Harrington-Watt

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  1. Kathleen Harrington-Watt
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Correspondence to Kathleen Harrington-Watt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Steven Ratuva

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Lyndon Fraser

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Harrington-Watt, K. (2019). The Legacy of Indentured Labor. In: Ratuva, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2898-5_100

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