Migrant Labor and Welfare in Southeast Asia

Abstract

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Southeast Asia's increased incorporation into the international economy was associated with the expansion of European capitalism, the exploitation of raw materials, and transformation of the existing geography of production. Political and economic integration led to specialization in mineral and agricultural production and employment growth in three main areas - mining, agriculture, and services. This growth pattern corresponded with the commoditization oflabor in these sectors and shaped colonial labor polkies, resulting in the creation of specific labor systems and the formation of immigrant niches. The literature on labor history during this period is characterized by studies of labor systems (mining, plantation) and of specific racial groups (Chinese, Indian, Javanese) and industries, The socioeconomic conditions of workers and their welfare have received less attention. How do we assess the very real elements of economic growth and colonialism's impact on changing labor processes without integrating perspectives on labor standards and workers' welfare? In order to make the connections among capital flows, the trade in commodities, the growth of wage labor, and racial/occupational stratification it is also necessary to deconstruct the labels that defined workers "migrants," or "indentured," or "free?" The social history of the region must thus to be understood in the larger context of colonial and state labor policies, migrant workers origins and motivations, the size of local workforces, and labor standards and welfare. In this study, the focus is on wage workers in mainly foreign-dominated export sectors, since, these workers were bound by wage system, and contracts and waged work was vital to labor orginization and welfare issues.