Dr. Kumar Mahabir

When the system of chattel slavery in British colonies was abolished in the 1830s, planters sought a solution to the subsequent labour crisis. The cheapest and most serviceable alternative proved to be the importation of indentured labourers, the most abundant source of which was India. Thus, between 1838 and 1917, over half a million Indians were brought to the Caribbean colonies as contract workers.

Within the system of indentured servitude with its "not chattel slavery but also not free labour" ethos, the position of indentured Indian women was a dichotomous one. Women who migrated willingly or – as was often the case – unwillingly to the plantation colonies had to contend with a total restructuring of their kinship networks, caste position, relationships with the opposite sex, and their very low position in colonial social hierarchies. They were branded by authorities as promiscuous by nature, and a financial burden due to their potential to bear children, but were also essential elements for the social stabilisation of the male-majority labourers as well as being labourers and wage-earners in their own right. Their location in the asymmetrical dependencies of the plantations, and of the colonies as a whole, was thus a site of intense negotiation and contestation.

My project will examine the experiences of Indian indentured women on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad, using a combination of archival research, oral histories and ethnographic research. Through this initiative, I hope to enable these women to tell their own stories of how they negotiated their place within the asymmetrical dependencies of the plantation economy through such means as resistance, contestation, compliance and accommodation. This methodology will provide a more nuanced understanding of the intersectionality of race, class and gender in the colonial plantation setting, and of the impact of the indentured labour system on Indian women's lives.

since 2021
Senior Lecturer of Anthropology, University of Guyana

since 2020
Founder and Executive Director of, and a contributor to, an ongoing series of weekly webinars (now in its 219th edition) that brings academics and other thought leaders together to discuss, analyse, produce and share knowledge on the period of post-slavery indentureship, and the issues, struggles and successes of indentured Indians, and their descendants in the Caribbean and the wider diaspora

2007–2018
Assistant Professor, Centre for Education Programmes, University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)

2000–2006
Lecturer in Communications, COSTAATT (Community College), Trinidad and Tobago

2003
Assistant Lecturer in Communications, The University of the West Indies. St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

2000
Reviewer for the School Textbook Evaluation Committee, UNESCO Division, Ministry of Education. Trinidad and Tobago.

1999–2001
Tutor of Anthropology, The University of the West Indies. St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago          

1998
Reference Resource Officer on Caribbean Affairs at the Latin American Collection, George A. Smathers Libraries, and Research Consultant in the Department of Health Policy and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, Shands Hospital, University of Florida, USA

1990–2015
Chairman of Publishing of CHAKRA Publishing, and 2000–2019. Editor and Publisher of cultural magazines, Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre Co. Ltd., Trinidad and Tobago

1997
PhD in Anthropology, University of Florida

1989
MPhil in Literatures in English, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus

1980
BA in Literatures in English, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus

Books 

• 2021. Co-edited with Brinsley Samaroo and Primnath Gooptar. Global Indian Diaspora: Charting New Frontiers. Volume 1. Manohar/Routledge.
• 2017. Multiple Identities: Essays on Caribbean Literature. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 2013. As editor. Caribbean Issues in the Indian Diaspora. New Delhi: Serials Publications.
• 2012. Traditional Medicine and Women Healers in Trinidad: Postnatal Health Care. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 2010. Indian Caribbean Folklore Spirits. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 2009. As editor. The Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean. New Delhi: Serials Publications.
• 2008. As editor. Man in India: An International Journal of Anthropology 88(1–2). Special Issue on Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean. New Delhi, India: Serials Publications.
• 2005. Caribbean Indian Folktales. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 2001. Medicinal & Edible Plants used by East Indians of Trinidad & Tobago. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House, 1991. New edition.
• 1995. With Mahin Gosine and Dipak Malick. The Legacy of East Indian Indenture in Trinidad. New York: Windsor Press.
• 1992. Caribbean East Indian Recipes. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 1992. East Indian Women of Trinidad & Tobago: An Annotated Bibliography with Photographs and Ephemera. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 1990. A Dictionary of Common Trinidad Hindi. Port of Spain: Chakra Publishing House.
• 1985. The Still Cry: Personal Accounts of East Indians in Trinidad & Tobago during Indentureship. New York: Calaloux Publications.

Chapters in Books

• 2023. "The Poetics of Unsung Chutney Singer Lakhan Karriah of Trinidad." In Literature of Girmitiya, edited by Neha Singh and Sajaudeen Chapparban, 111–125. Palgrave Macmillan. Access
• 2021. "The Marginalization of Indian Men in Advertisements in Trinidad and Tobago." In Global Indian Diaspora: Charting New Frontiers, vol. 1, edited by Brinsley Samaroo, Primnath Gooptar, and Kumar Mahabir, 175–189. Manohar/Routledge.
• 2018. "The Private Hindu College in Guyana: Best Practices in Diaspora Engagement." In Dynamics of Caribbean Diaspora Engagement: People, Policy, Practice. University of Guyana Press.
• 2018. "Hinduism in the French Caribbean." In Hinduism and Tribal Religions. SpringerLink. Access
• 2018. "The Phenomenon of Ramleela/Ramlila Theatre in Trinidad." In Global Hindu Diaspora: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Routledge.
• 2016. "Searching for the Lost Indentured Indians of St. Kitts." In The Legacy of Indian Indenture: Historical and Contemporary Aspects of Migration and Diaspora, edited by Maurits S. Hassankhan, Lomarsh Roopnarine, and Hans Ramsoedh, 63–81. New Delhi, India: Manohar Publishers & Distributors.
• 2013. With Sylvia Gilharry Perez. "Remembering the Past to Secure the Future: East Indians of Belize." In Caribbean Issues in the Indian Diaspora, edited by Kumar Mahabir, 105–112. New Delhi, India: Serials Publications.
• 2013. With Keith E. McNeal and Paul Younger. "Hindu Healing Traditions in the Southern Caribbean: History and Praxis." In Caribbean Healing Traditions Implications for Health and Mental Health, edited by Patsy Sutherland, Roy Moodley, and Barry Chevannes, 176–187. Kentucky, USA: Routledge Mental Health (Taylor & Francis Group LLC).
• 2011. "Women as Invisible Healers: Traditional Midwives in Trinidad and Tobago." In Bindi: The Multifaceted Lives of Indo-Caribbean, edited by Rosanne Kanhai, 165–179. Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press.
• 2009. "The Indian Diaspora in the West Indies/Caribbean: A Cultural History of Trials and Tribulations." In The Indian Diaspora: Historical and Contemporary Context, edited by Laxmi Narayan Kadekar, Ajaya Kumar Sahoo, and Gauri Bhattacharya, 260–265. New Delhi, India: Rawat Publications.
• 2004. "Animals from India in the Caribbean." In Zoological Survey of India 103 (Part 1–2): 179–183.

Journal Articles

• 2019. With R. Jurawan, S. Verma, S. Iswarawaka, and R. Maharaj."The practice of 'Jharay' and its relevance in modern medical practice." In MyT&TMA: Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association Newsletter: 2.
• 2015. "The phenomenon of Ramleela/Ramlila theatre In Trinidad." In Nidan: International Journal for the Study of Hinduism 27(1–2): 1–21.
• 2011. "Religion and Conservation: Hardi and Hindu Women in Trinidad." In USC Journal of Research 11.
• 2008. "A Hindu/Indian Male Anthropologist Works Among Multi-Ethnic Caribbean Women." In International Journal for Women's Studies 1(1): 12–18.
• 2007. "V.S. Naipaul: Childhood and Memory." In Journal of Caribbean Literatures 5(2): 70–84.
• 2007. "South Asians/East Indians in the Caribbean." In Anthropology News 48(2): 52–43.
• 2007. "The struggle against overweight and obesity: Is behavioural change an effective way to lose weight?" In Caribbean Medical Journal 68(2): 17–26.
• 2005. "Hosay as Theatre: Transcending Time, Form, Space, Race and Religion." In The Arts Journal: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Literature, History, Art and Culture of Guyana and the Caribbean 1(2): 73–94.
• 2005. "Hindi Entries in Caribbean Dictionaries." In Wadabagei: A Journal of the Caribbean and its Diasporas 8(3): 54–74.
• 2004. "East Indian/South Asian Heritage in the Caribbean." In Cariforum: 22–28.
• 1999. "The Impact of Hindi on Trinidad English." In Caribbean Quarterly 45(4):13–34.
• 1999. "The Chinese-Indian Connection." In Caribbean Week 10(12):16.
• 1996. "Whose Nation Is This? The Struggle over National and Ethnic Identity in Trinidad and Guyana." In Caribbean Studies 29(2): 283–302.