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An Empire of Drink: Gender, Labor and the Historical Economies of Alcohol
Author(s) -
Chatterjee Piya
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6443.00201
Subject(s) - empire , colonialism , narrative , ethnography , politics , consumption (sociology) , bengal , labor history , sociology , gender studies , history , economy , political economy , labor relations , political science , anthropology , social science , economics , literature , art , law , ancient history , archaeology , bay
This article examines the colonial and post‐colonial histories of gender, labor and alcohol production and consumption in the tea plantations of North Bengal, India. It argues that the symbolic and metaphoric constructions of primitivism within a ‐ wider imperial narrative provides one backdrop for an exploration of the symbolic and material histories of labor and alcohol politics in the plantation. The essay moves between different historical periods and languages, highlighting the interconnections between the semantic and bodily practices, which continue to index the gendered and racialized labor politics of contemporary tea plantations. It ends with a contemporary ethnographic examination of women's protest around the “liquor business” in the postcolonial plantation.