''Coolie Woman'' (full title: ''Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture'') is a book written by

Gaiutra Bahadur Gaiutra Bahadur is a Guyanese-American writer. She is best known for '' Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture,'' which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2014. Early life Bahadur was born in New Amsterdam, East Berbice-Corentyne in rural ...

and co-published in 2013 by Hurst and Company of London in Europe and the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

in the US. Editions from

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

in India in 2013 and Jacana in South Africa in 2014 followed. The book is a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of Sujaria, the great-grandmother of the author and simultaneously an exploration of the

indentured labor Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...

system, which was practiced in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Tracing Sujaria's 1903 journey as a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

caste woman from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, India's poorest state, to the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantations of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

, Bahadur wove both archival and published records, as well as folk and oral sources, to tell the broader story of "the exodus and settlement of Indian women to the Caribbean". She critically examined the

Hindu caste system The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mug ...

, Indian family structure, and the indenture system itself in an attempt to understand how each of these shaped her grandmother and how migration changed or affected women's lives. The word ''

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

'', which was used in the

Atlantic World The Atlantic World comprises the interactions among the peoples and empires bordering the Atlantic Ocean rim from the beginning of the Age of Discovery to the early 19th century. Atlantic history is split between three different contexts: trans-A ...

to refer to primarily Indian and Chinese indentured workers from Asia, is considered a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

. Bahadur chose the title to acknowledge the stigma but also as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for the baggage women carried as a result of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

. Reviewers have pointed to the importance the work holds for a "neglected area of scholarship", about the age when Asian indentured workers replaced

African slaves Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Indian Ocean sl ...

on plantations in the Caribbean, as well as its exploration of feminist themes of societal and family oppression, poverty, lack of power, sexual abuse and violence. Praised for her storytelling, as well as academic treatment, the book has appeal for both scholars and casual readers. ''Coolie Woman'' was shortlisted for multiple literary awards, including the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (2014) and the

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

in Britain (2014). It won the 2014 Caribbean Studies Association's Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Prize, which annually recognizes interdisciplinary works that examine Caribbean culture and society, have been published within the preceding three years, and are written in one of the languages prevalent in the region.

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...

included the book in its round-up of the best scholarly books of the decade in 2020.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Biographies (books) Books about India Books about the Caribbean Books about the caste system in India Indo-Guyanese people Indentured servitude in the Americas C. Hurst & Co. books 2013 non-fiction books Hachette India books