Life Unadministered: Colonial Care and the Indian Coolie

A discourse of care undergirded colonial political rationality during the era of Indian indenture-ship in the Caribbean. In this essay the voyage of the from Calcutta to Trinidad in 1858 serves as an entry point into a broader conversation on the repeated archival invocation of care toward coolies d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Small axe : a journal of criticism 2023-03, Vol.27 (1), p.1-18
Main Author: Islam, Najnin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art and Visual Culture
Caribbean Studies
Cultural Studies
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:A discourse of care undergirded colonial political rationality during the era of Indian indenture-ship in the Caribbean. In this essay the voyage of the from Calcutta to Trinidad in 1858 serves as an entry point into a broader conversation on the repeated archival invocation of care toward coolies during their passage to the plantation colonies. , which is synonymous with neither affect nor benevolence, refers to a series of techniques aimed at managing bodies traded for profit. Analyzing the apparatuses through which care for indentured servants was administered, the essay illuminates the racialized and caste-based knowledge systems that were mobilized to “make live” the reserve of potential labor force aboard. Concomitantly, it reads the colonial archive for moments in which indentured servants register their presence through their responses to being or refusal to be cared for and considers the stakes of such refusal for the colonial capitalist project.
ISSN:0799-0537
1534-6714
DOI:10.1215/07990537-10461770