Rubber Plantation Workers, Work Hazards, and Health in Colonial Malaya, 1900-1940

Abstract

This chapter focuses on key aspects of Indian workers' economic, social, and health engagement with plantation owners, subimperial India, and the global trade in commodities. The study first examines the development of the rubber plantation industry against the backdrop of colonial developing-world agriculture and the recruitment of Indian labour. Then it analyzes the consequences of this encounter through the prism of workers' plantation life, the epidemiology of migration, and plantation work hazards. Finally, the investigation turns to the unique labour and health experiences of Indian plantation workers by examining labour codes and other administrative legislation that registered and contended with the resulting health consequences for the workers.