Leiden University Student Repository

Kevin, Leijn (2018)

Sama Rasa, Sama Rata: The working class of the railways, sugar factories and pawnshops in colonial Java during 1908-1923

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

The early twentieth century labour movement in colonial Java provided the stage where many battles between colonizer and colonized took place. In this thesis I argue that understanding the dynamics of this particular part of colonial history requires an approach based on the concept of class. Using three case studies, the railway workers, the sugar workers and the pawnshop workers, I aim to show that class moved these workers to join the nascent labour movement and their organizations. My goal is to show that class is a useful concept in understanding colonial Indonesia.

Labour history

Indonesia

Java

Trade unions

Colonialism

Class

Author

Kevin, Leijn

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

History, Arts and Culture

Supervisors

Schulte Nordholt, Henk

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en