The Malay labourer: By the window of capitalism

by Zawawi Ibrahim

This book explores the ethnography of the emerging proletarian social consciousness and resistance as Malay peasants from east coast peninsular Malaysia find themselves reconstituted as a "class" not only as an economic category but also as a "community" in plantation society. The plantation, as a "window" to capitalism, serves as an excellent small-scale empirical ambience and testing-ground to probe how Malays respond to both industrial class-status authority and wage labouring work. The author subsequently analyses how the nuances of Malay proletarian moral economy and dignity are articulated with their notions of class, culture, ethnicity, and humanism.

347 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gareth Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vital and pathbreaking study of the proletarianisation of Malay labour in the oil palm plantations of Terangganu in the 1970s. It remains as relevant as ever, as the palm oil industry dominates an important place in the Malaysian political econmy.

[Haziq Hakimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good sociological analysis that expounds on Malay class consciousness in relation to the local concept of Maruah "Dignity". Very interesting