Labour Dynamics in the Plantation and Mining Sectors in Southeast Asia, 1840-1950: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

The ability to organise the production of goods and services has been an integral factor in the evolution of social and political structures in Southeast Asia. The social order rested on the personal authority of the ruler and customary obligations to the state. Since the availability and control of labor formed the basis of a state's wealth there were several forms of a servitude, which persisted in Southeast Asian societies until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.