One of the main legacies of slavery and indentured labour is the existence of multiethnic and multicultural societies in former tropical colonies of the European empires. After the abolition of slavery the indentured labourers were brought to the plantation colonies in order to meet the need for cheap labour for the production of tropical goods. From the beginning they faced a situation in which they were regarded as competitors for the freed slaves and/or the local population. At the same time in various cases the freed slaves and their descendants considered themselves as the indigenous people and were treated as such by the colonial governments. In their perspective the colonial governments spent too many resources on the immigration of foreign labourers resources that could have been used to improve the socioeconomic situation of the descendants of the former slaves. To this date this historical past overshadows the relations between different ethnic groups in so called plural societies. This book deals with the relations between different ethnic groups in these societies and the challenges they meet to establish peaceful and democratic societies. The volume consists of chapters on these societies such as South Africa Guyana Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. About the Author Maurits S. Hassankhan is a historian from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. He has published on indentured labour migration diaspora and ethnic relations. Hans Ramsoedh is a historian of Surinamese origin living in the Netherlands. He has been one of the editors of the journal OSO and has published extensively on different aspects of the history of Suriname including on cultural diversity and integration. Brij V. Lal (Late) Professor Brij Lal was a wellknown historian from Fiji who has published on indentured labour the history of Fiji and the Pacific Islands. He was one of the members of the committee that drafted the Constution of Fiji in 1998. Goolam Vahed is a professor of History in the University of KwaZuluNatal. He has published extensively on different aspects of Indian history in South Africa including indentured labour religion sports and on Mahatma Gandhi.
