Amarjit Kaur examines wage labour's role in economic growth and change in Southeast Asia since 1840. Her study focuses on globalization; the international division of labour and how transnational economic processes shaped and continue to shape labour systems. There are five main themes - labour processes, migration and labour systems; labour circulation or mobility; the gendered nature of labour relations; and, class consciousness, worker organization and labour standards. A wide-ranging study which will be of great interest to historians, economists and Asia specialists.

Autorentext

AMARJIT KAUR is Professor of Economic History at the University of New England and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. She has published extensively on transport, labour, and economic development in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Zusammenfassung
Amarjit Kaur provides a comprehensive analysis of wage labour systems in the mining, plantation and manufacturing sectors in Southeast Asia. She presents a fundamental reassessment of the nature of wage labour and charts its development in the region during the colonial period and at the present time, and explores the impact of globalization on employment relations. Issues addressed include: cheap labour and the Asian Miracle; gendered labour relations; women workers in industrializing Asia; the role of the state in structuring labour relations; and the trade union and labour movements.

Inhalt

PART I: FORMATION OF A SOUTHEAST ASIAN ECONOMY, c.1800 Introduction Economy and Society in Southeast Asia, c.1800 PART II: GLOBALISATION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR, 1870-1940 Labour Dynamics in Sugar and Rice Production: Coercion, Contract and Free Labour Urban Centres and Industrialisation: Industrial and Service Workers PART III: SOUTHEAST ASIA SINCE WORLD WAR II: GLOBALISATION, TRADE LIBERALISATION AND THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR Conclusion: Globalisation, Economic Growth, and Labour