Worthy of Freedom - by Jonathan Connolly (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this book, historian Jonathan Connolly traces the normalization of indenture from its controversial beginnings to its widespread adoption across the British Empire in the 1860s. Initially, indenture caused scandal and was viewed as a covert revival of slavery. But soon enough, a changing economic landscape in the colonies altered how it was perceived, and it was increasingly viewed as a legitimate form of free labor and a means of preserving the promise of abolition. Connolly explains how, over time, the large-scale, state-sponsored migration of Indian subjects to work in sugar plantations across Mauritius, British Guiana, and Trinidad was justified as a supposed force for progress. Excavating legal and public debates and tracing practical applications of the law, Connolly carefully reconstructs how the categories of free and unfree labor were made and remade to suit the interests of capital and empire, showing that emancipation was not simply a triumphal event but, rather, a deeply contested process. In so doing, he advances an original interpretation of how indenture changed the meaning of "freedom" in a post-abolition world"--

Book Synopsis

A study of Indian indentured labor in Mauritius, British Guiana, and Trinidad that explores the history of indenture's normalization.

In this book, historian Jonathan Connolly traces the normalization of indenture from its controversial beginnings to its widespread adoption across the British Empire during the nineteenth century. Initially viewed as a covert revival of slavery, indenture caused a scandal in Britain and India. But over time, economic conflict in the colonies altered public perceptions of indenture, now increasingly viewed as a legitimate form of free labor and a means of preserving the promise of abolition. Connolly explains how the large-scale, state-sponsored migration of Indian subjects to work on sugar plantations across Mauritius, British Guiana, and Trinidad transformed both the notion of post-slavery free labor and the political economy of emancipation.

Excavating legal and public debates and tracing practical applications of the law, Connolly carefully reconstructs how the categories of free and unfree labor were made and remade to suit the interests of capital and empire, showing that emancipation was not simply a triumphal event but, rather, a deeply contested process. In so doing, he advances an original interpretation of how indenture changed the meaning of "freedom" in a post-abolition world.

Review Quotes

"Connolly shows that changes in employment regulations and the laws for labour coercion were not sudden, but a gradual phenomenon achieved in response to the trends in the sugar economy and the problems faced by planters in controlling labour. Connolly's work occupies a unique space in the historiography by delineating the complexities through which such changes were contested, negotiated and reinforced between the 1830s and the 1870s."-- "Slavery & Abolition"

"The import of Connolly's insightful historical analysis of indenture extends, in our view, beyond the burgeoning field of imperial legal history...Worthy of Freedom is a critical account of the historical transformations of 'free labor, ' as told along the dimensions of consciousness, legal forms and ideologies, and practice. Law, as Connolly shows, enabled the naturalization of economic interests and power."-- "Law & Society Review"

"This is an excellent study that connects the study of indentureship to the study of emancipation and the history of emancipation as a field."-- "Journal of Indentureship and Its Legacies"

"Indenture, once seen as economically and morally a scandal, became normalized by the 1860s and was able to survive into the twentieth century across the British Empire. In tracking this process, Worthy of Freedom makes an invaluable addition to our understanding of the problematic meanings of 'free' after slavery."-- "Catherine Hall, University College London"

"Sharply researched, clearly written, and effectively argued, Worthy of Freedom shows how and why indenture became less controversial over time and reveals the process by which the system was consolidated legally and economically. This is a fantastic book that will be of interest to any scholars of labor history, history of empire, enslavement, or South Asian history."-- "Clare Anderson, University of Leicester"

About the Author

Jonathan Connolly is assistant professor of history at the University of Illinois Chicago.