Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the evolution of the collective memories of the mobility history of the labour of the Caribbean region. The Caribbean provides a rich study of the different forms of labour systems that have marked the politics of the coloniser and the colonised historically. Further it provides the basis for an essential study for discourses on colonialism and capitalism. The book describes labour mobility research, bridging the gap between historiography and the present day diasporic communities, which emerged from slavery and indenture. It presents case studies from the Caribbean context on the connections between the ‘mnemonic sites, practices and forms’ of collective memory and identity performances. The book illustrates how cultural markers in the form of music, food, dress, religion and language, which trace their presence to the indentured labourers, have become central to the national and regional narratives within the Caribbean.