Summary

Tracing the political evolution of plantation labor in Malaysia from the colonial period to the present, this original study focuses on the formation and control of plantation labor, and the manner in which it resisted capital. The author discusses the emergence and demise of left-wing unions in the plantations and the nature of the colonial state's policy toward labor in the post-war period. He includes a detailed account of the events which led to the formation of the National Union of Plantation Workers, the emergence of alternative unions in the 1960s, and the fundamental neglect of plantation workers. By looking in detail at the role of the state and its relationship to the plantation social structure, the author concludes that the state is basically autonomous and that the capital formed in the plantations cannot be defined as merchant.