Conclusions: Transformations of the Girmitiya Peasantry

This concluding chapter summarises the main findings of the book, specifically that the Girmitiyas were transformed from peasants in British India to labourers on Surinamese plantations, from labourers to peasants and from peasants to urban urbanites. It underscores that the transformations were enabled by the possession or loss of agrarian human capital. Furthermore, it emphasised that all generations have paid a heavy price as the achievements of later Girmitiya entrepreneurs, politicians, academics and other socially successful people rest on their fragile shoulders. Without the sacrifices of these generations, it was not possible to build an ethnic community, develop internal networks, celebrate role models, accumulate various forms of capital and receive several forms of support. The fate of the plantation workers and the peasants who struggled, suffered and perished anonymously cannot simply be termed ‘progress’ as the sacrifices of several generations of British Indian peasants were too great. The history of the Girmitiya peasants reveals as many reasons to rethink the past as to celebrate.