About this book:

*Tea Plantations and Labor Movements: The Political Economy of Plantation Sri Lanka* offers a comprehensive and poignant labor history of the workers who have formed the backbone of Sri Lanka’s tea industry for nearly two centuries. By weaving together rigorous archival research with evocative oral histories, the book explores the formation of "estate society"—from the brutal colonial-era recruitment of indentured South Indian Tamils to the modern-day struggles against neoliberal market pressures. It examines how the rigid hierarchies of the plantation system have historically shaped every facet of life, including housing, healthcare, and the gendered division of labor.

Beyond a mere account of exploitation, this study centers the agency of the Malaiyaha Tamil community, documenting their transition from early forms of quiet resistance to organized trade unionism and powerful political mobilization. The author analyzes the complexities of statelessness, the fight for citizenship, and the impact of nationalization and subsequent privatization on labor rights. By highlighting feminist perspectives and the role of transnational solidarity, the book provides a nuanced look at how ethnicity, caste, and gender intersect in the struggle for social justice.

Essential for students of South Asian history, political economy, and labor studies, this work moves beyond the romanticized image of Ceylon tea to reveal the human cost of a global commodity. It concludes by proposing forward-thinking policy reforms aimed at breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty through land tenure reform, educational mobility, and economic diversification. *Tea Plantations and Labor Movements* is a definitive resource for anyone seeking to understand the political possibilities and constraints facing marginalized labor in a globalized world.

What You'll Find Inside:

• The historical transformation of the Sri Lankan highlands from colonial 'waste lands' into a rigid plantation economy dependent on indentured South Indian labor.
• The 'total institution' nature of estate life, where housing (line rooms), health, and social reproduction were systematically controlled and neglected by the state and planters.
• The evolution of labor resistance from early 'foot-dragging' and desertion to the formation of powerful trade unions like the Ceylon Workers Congress.
• The complex intersection of ethnicity, caste, and gender in plantation society, and how these identities shaped both internal hierarchies and external political struggles.
• The impact of post-colonial policies, including the mass disenfranchisement and statelessness of workers, followed by nationalization and modern neoliberal reforms.

Who's It For:

This book is intended for scholars, students, and researchers of South Asian history, political economy, and labor movements. It is also a valuable resource for social activists, NGOs, and policymakers working on human rights and rural development within estate communities. Those interested in the historical sociology of the 'Malaiyaha Tamil' people and the global tea trade will find the combination of archival research and oral histories particularly insightful.