Chapter summaries

Chapter 2 provides the historical backdrop of the work, situating the events of the 19th century which form the main timeframe for the subjects considered in this research in their wider context by tracing the history of Mauritius from its discovery to recent events of the 21st century.

Since the research is principally concerned with two labour systems, the work is divided into two parts: Part I (Chapters 3 and 4) covering slavery, and Part II (Chapters 5 and 6) addressing indentured labour.

Chapter 3 is concerned with the abolition of the slave trade in Mauritius. After a discussion of the imperial Act abolishing the trade and its genesis, an analysis of the context of Mauritian slavery with specific reference to (a), its geographical situation in the Indian Ocean, and (b) French occupation, is provided. These two aspects, as elucidated in the chapter, fundamentally influenced the enforcement of the ban on slave trading. It must be understood that in Mauritius, abolition of the trade is closely linked to issues relevant to British conquest, the latter having occurred in 1810, three years after the Imperial Act was passed.

Chapter 4 looks at the abolition of slavery itself. The wider notions of slavery and freedom are discussed, leading into an analysis of the markedly low manu­mission numbers during the first two decades of British occupation in Mauritius. The legal requirements for manumission are examined, as well as motivations for slave retention. The role of the sugar industry in the 1820s hereby emerges as pivotal. Importantly, this part of the work reveals how certain British policies permanently placed Mauritius on a very specific economic trajectory which would influence labour relations for decades, or arguably even centuries, to come. The broader focus of this chapter lies with the position of the slave-holders in Mauri­tius as the party most strongly affected by the passage of the 1833 Act abolishing slavery. Their attitudes are particularly revealed in context with the amelioration policies that preceded abolition as well as the subsequent compensation process. This Chapter is thus primarily devoted to the white segment of society in 19th- century Mauritius.

Moving on to indentured labour, Chapter 5 of the work addresses the first phase of indenture migration from India.

Chapter 6 addresses that second phase of indenture migration, which took place under a government-backed scheme from 1842 onwards and was adapted to the needs of a burgeoning sugar industry in very obvious ways. Over the com­ing decades, the indenture concept underwent several changes in design, moving from a “bounty” system to a “contingent” system, which are analyzed in detail in the chapter. The regulation of labour reflected an increasingly coercive setting which with the passage of new labour laws in 1867 did not ease the situation but rather sharpened it. A legal distinction between Old Immigrants and New Immi­grants was introduced, designed to bind a greater number of available workers to the sugar industry. The chapter ends with an examination of the process that saw the end of indenture and the emergence of a local Indian peasantry engaged in sugar production in a process which overall maintained the power structures of the sugar economy, but on a different footing. Both Chapter 5 and 6 deal with the Indian segment of society during the relevant time period, and further, how all the different segments related to each other at a time when all parts of Mauri­tian society had been “assembled”.

Chapter 7 presents the conclusion of the work. A summary of the findings from the preceding chapters is supplied and the contemporary relevance of such research to modern Mauritius is discussed. The report of the Truth and Justice Commission, published in 2011, which sought to address the legacies of slavery and indentured labour in Mauritius is examined and a detailed critique is pro­vided, highlighting the shortcomings and missed opportunities in the processes of that once-in-a-lifetime project for the Indian Ocean nation.

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