Shipping Lords and Coolie Stokers: Class, Race, and Maritime Capitalism in the Early 20th Century

By: Ravi Ahuja

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Synopsis: A TRAGIC SHIPPING ACCIDENT OPENS A WINDOW ON RACIALIZED LABOUR MANAGEMENT IN AN AGE OF IMPERIALISMWhen eighty-seven passengers and crew died in the shipwreck of the Royal Mail ship Egypt in 1922, the accident gave rise to a racist international press campaign against the employment of Indian seafarers, such as those who made up most of the ship&’s crew. This was not unusual at a time when a fifth of the British mercantile marine&’s workforce was recruited from the subcontinent. Ravi Ahuja explains the business logic behind a labour regime steeped in racist irrationalism and examines the scope for solidarity among a divided workforce in an age of imperialism – an issue that is no less relevant in our own time.