Labouring to Learn: Towards a Poltiical Economy of Plantations, People and Education in Sri Lanka

by Angela W. Little

A day in the life of Vickneswari provides the starting point for an analysis of educational progress among the plantation Tamil community of Sri Lanka. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary evidence, Angela Little traces educational progress from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. The analysis is embedded within historical, political, social and economic relations which stretch beyond the confines of the plantation; within a plural society in which plantation people have gradually become more central to the political mainstream; and within a national and global economy in which plantation production has become less central and less profitable over time.

324 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1998