Conclusion
This chapter has revealed the restrictive aspects of the regime of state-regulated indentured labour as it was experienced in Mauritius. The succession of various schemes shows that indentured labour as a system was not static, but evolved as the needs of the sugar industry required.
In the aftermath of the abuses encountered during the first phase of indenture, calls were made for greater state involvement, regarded as the best protection for the emigrating labourers. Yet far from remedying the shortcomings of the informal system, the official scheme proved more coercive with legislative measures employed to retain workers or prolong their stay on the island. As has become clear, the question inquiring into the “freedom” of the worker is not satisfied simply by reference to legal status. Absence of freedom is not only denoted by overt coercion or use of force, but also in the level of exploitation experienced. The most striking aspect which marks indentured labour as an “unfree” system was the availability of criminal sanctions for breach of contract on part of the workers. Thus not only did workers continue to enter into contracts without clear understanding, the service agreements were also being prolonged under any available pretext. Additionally, the enforcement of these contracts was moved out of the private, civic sphere and became a matter of public law, with lenient provisions for non-execution by employers and harsh punishment for breach of contract by the labourers. Vagrancy laws were used to regulate the options and mobility of workers, severely curtailing the ability to choose their occupation. To this end, a complex level of bureaucracy was employed throughout the period, as evidenced by the ticket, certificate and pass requirements, which were difficult to navigate for a largely uneducated workforce. With the introduction of a legal distinction between “Old” and “New” immigrants, the system sought to control even those who had already completed their contracts in a bid to further bind them to the sugar industry. The high rates of suicides on sugar estates reflects negatively on the experience of indentured labour as a whole.This chapter also shows how the large influx of Indian workers operated to the detriment of ex-apprentices, who found themselves increasingly marginalized from society in a dynamic which not only saw this group, but also the plantation owners, turn away from the plantations. Crucially, in terms of post-emancipation development, an Indian peasantry had been encouraged as the indentured labour period was drawing to a close, which contrasts with the experience of apprentices in the post-abolition period. Yet even with the end of indentured labour, the Franco-Mauritian oligarchy found a way to maintain their superior economic status by holding on to sugar manufacturing while divesting themselves of their land holdings. Even as the Indian population advanced in their economic standing on the island, their progress continued to be tightly bound to sugar cane cultivation.
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