GEORGETOWN: Ameena Gafoor Institute, Cambridge University establish study of indentureship

GEORGETOWN: The University of Cambridge, UK
is to take the lead on the research and study of indentureship, thanks to
support from the Ameena Gafoor Institute (AGI). The joint initiative between
Cambridge and the AGI to establish a professorship at the University will be
launched at a reception at the Home Room of the House of Lords, London on
Wednesday, October 13, 2021.

Present at the reception will be
The Rt Hon Lord Parekh, Honorary Patron of the AGI, and Professor David
Dabydeen, a former Guyana Ambassador to UNESCO, a novelist and broadcaster.

The research and study into
indentureship, including Indian indentureship, at Cambridge would place a
much-needed spotlight on the mass migration of labourers from the Indian
sub-continent to various colonies across the globe, including the Caribbean.

At a time when questions of roots
and identity are at the forefront of social and political discourse in Guyana
and elsewhere where indentured labourers settled, this joint initiative is both
relevant and important, and the University of Cambridge’s participation would
provide gravitas to this area of study, which has been much neglected by
scholars and historians.

The University is working with
the AGI to establish an Endowed Professorship, an Endowed Lectureship, several
other academic posts, and postdoctoral and PhD studentships to the field of
study.

The University of Cambridge is
one of the leading centres for the study of imperial and modern South Asian
History, with resources that include the South Asian Studies Centre Library and
Archive, where significant material related to indenture is stored at the
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The study and documentation of
indentureship have barely been included in the history syllabi of Western
universities, and this initiative is expected to advance scholarship and
research in this area, and provide new direction and material for discussion
going forward.