Plantation Labour, Unions, Capital and the State in Peninsular Malaysia

• Main Author: Ramasamy, Palanisamy l949- (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Kuala Lumpur Oxford University Press 1994
• Series: South-East Asian social science monographs
• Subjects: National Union of Plantation Workers > History; Plantation workers > History > Malaysia; Trade-Unions > Agricultural laborers > History > Malaysia
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Item Description: Based on the author's thesis (Ph.D)--University of Malaya, 1990
• Physical Description: xvi, 193 pages illustrations 25 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index
• ISBN: 967653031X

This book is about the political evolution of plantation labour in Peninsular Malaysia. It focuses on how plantation labour was formed in the colonial period, how it was controlled, and the manner in which it resisted capital. It also discusses the emergence and demise of left-wing unions in the plantations and the nature of the colonial state's policy towards labour in the immediate post-war period. The events that led to the formation of the National Union of Plantation Workers are traced in detail, as are the reasons for the emergence of alterative unions in the plantations in the 1960s and the fundamental neglect of plantation workers. By looking at the role of the state and capital's relationship with the plantation social structure, the author comes to the conclusion that the state is basically autonomous and that plantation capital cannot be defined as merchant in form