Study in UK: Cambridge University Introduces Fellowship to Study Labour History

The University of Cambridge has created the first-ever visiting fellowship into the study of indentured labour. This will involve a controversial system which involves millions of Indians who got replaced by slavery during British rule. 

In accordance with this, the university’s Selwyn College appointed Guyanese-American Professor Gaiutra Bahadur last week. He is the “Ramesh and Leela Narain visiting bye-fellow in Indentureship Studies”.

Who is Professor Gaiutra Bahadur?

Bahadur is the author of ‘Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture’. This book was a major study of the lives of all the Indian women who become indentured labourers. This was to the colonial plantation in the 19th century. 

Selwyn College and the Ameena Gafoor Institute, which examines indentureship and its legacy, worked closely together to create the curriculum. It permits a scholar to spend eight weeks at the university conducting research. The programme will run for the first five years.

According to the institute, the largest and most concerted expression of indenture – is a temporary contract between employer and labourer. It occurred between 1834 and 1920 in relation to the British colonial period and Empire. This is when 2 million Indians and thousands from Asia, Africa, and Oceania were exploited to replace enslaved African labour.

One of the suggestions given in a university report on the ‘Legacies of Enslavement’ by the Cambridge Advisory Group was the study of indentureship and its legacies. The university states that it hopes to eventually generate enough funds to establish a permanent Professorship.

The effort is part of a larger debate in the UK about decolonizing history and providing alternative viewpoints.

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