Unfree Workers: Insubordination and Resistance in Convict Australia, 1788-1860 (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)

'This remarkable book reveals the ties that bind transported convicts to histories of global capitalism, and the ways in which convict resistance and collective action shaped patterns of violence and labour exploitation. Grounded in the unprecedented linkage and analysis of a wide range of records, its compelling conceptual framework means that it will become a classic in Australian and imperial history.' --Clare Anderson, University of Leicester 'In Hamish Maxwell-Stewart and Michael Quinlan we have two gifted historians, writing at the peak of their powers, about one of world history's most fascinating labor systems. Deeply researched, engagingly written, and morally informed, Unfree Workers is a gift for the ages.' --Marcus Rediker, author of The Slave Ship: A Human History 'The book makes a major contribution to understanding the world-wide capitalism/unfree labour connection, and as far as Australia is concerned, constitutes the first full-length study of it.' --Terry Irving, Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Wollongong This book examines how convicts played a key role in the development of capitalism in Australia and how their active resistance shaped both workplace relations and institutions. It highlights the contribution of convicts to worker mobilization and political descent, forcing a rethink of Australia's foundational story. It is a book that will appeal to an international audience, as well as the many hundreds of thousands of Australians who can trace descent from convicts. It will enable the latter to make sense of the experience of their ancestors, equipping them with the necessary tools to understand convict and court records. It will also provide a valuable undergraduate and postgraduate teaching tool and reference for those studying unfree labour and worker history, social history, colonization and global migration in a digital age. Michael Quinlan is emeritus professor of industrial relations at UNSW, Australia, as well as holding posts at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and Middlesex, UK, University. He has researched and published extensively on the history and regulation of work (including occupational health and safety) and worker organisation. Hamish Maxwell-Stewart is a professor of heritage and digital history at the University of New England, Australia. He has researched and published extensively on the history of convict transportation including its connections with slavery and other unfree labour systems Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables Part I Incarceration—Convicts, Unfree Labour and Colonial Capitalism 1 Unfree Labour, Dissent, Convict-Transportation and the Building of Colonial Capital Unfree Labour and Dissent The Centrality of Convicts to Colonial Capitalism Charting Convict Resistance 2 Approach, Sources and Methods Approach Methods 3 Convict Eastern Australia: Labour Bureaucracy or Police State? The Demise of the Commonwealth Thieves Profiting from Pain An Antipodean Carceral Archipelago 4 Battling the Bench The Black Books and the Hierarchy of Labour Exploitation The Operation of the Bench Prosecuting Masters and Mistresses Collaboration, Obedience and Punishment in the Surveillance State Part II Excarceration—Patterns of Resistance and Collective Action 5 Shipboard Mutinies 6 Issuing Demands and Threats and Striking Deals Wage Bargaining Incentive Bargaining Bargaining for Access to Time Ration Bargaining Forming Combinations and Sharing Information Petitions and Complaints Conclusion 7 Go-Slows, Strikes and Effort Bargaining Go-Slows and Effort Bargaining Refusing to Work and Collective Insubordination Conclusion 8 Absenteeism, Absconding and Escape Absenteeism Absconding Interpreting Movement Offences Conclusion 9 Compensatory Retribution Destruction of Property Assaults Compensatory Theft Conclusion 10 Riot, Bushranging, Piracy and Revolt Riot Bushranging Piratical Seizures Death or Liberty 11 Nothing to Lose but Your Chains Counting the Protesters Organising the Convicted The Consequences of Protest The Emancipation of the Free References Index