Shipping Lords and Coolie Stokers - Class, Race, and Maritime Capitalism in the Early Twentieth Century

Shipping Lords and Coolie Stokers: Class, Race, and Maritime Capitalism in the Early Twentieth Century



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English | 2024 | ISBN: 1804293512 | 256 pages | True EPUB | 3.19 MB

A tragic shipping accident opens a window on racialized labour management in an age of imperialism.

When eighty-seven passengers and crew died in the shipwreck of the Royal Mail ship Egypt in 1922, the accident gave rise to a racist international press campaign against the employment of Indian seafarers, such as those who made up most of the ship’s crew. This was not unusual at a time when a fifth of the British mercantile marine’s workforce was recruited from the subcontinent. Ravi Ahuja explains the business logic behind a labour regime steeped in racist irrationalism and examines the scope for solidarity among a divided workforce in an age of imperialism – an issue that is no less relevant in our own time.