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Unfree Workers

Insubordination and Resistance in Convict Australia, 1788-1860

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Fills an important gap in research on unfree labor, providing a systematic examination of worker resistance
  • Uses “big data” to map out the contours of resistance, breaking new ground by powerfully visualizing the scale
  • Includes detailed case studies and datasets painstakingly built up through years of research

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History (PEHS)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Incarceration—Convicts, Unfree Labour and Colonial Capitalism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Approach, Sources and Methods

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 35-53
    3. Convict Eastern Australia: Labour Bureaucracy or Police State?

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 55-84
    4. Battling the Bench

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 85-109
  3. Excarceration—Patterns of Resistance and Collective Action

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111
    2. Shipboard Mutinies

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 113-128
    3. Issuing Demands and Threats and Striking Deals

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 129-159
    4. Go-Slows, Strikes and Effort Bargaining

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 161-192
    5. Absenteeism, Absconding and Escape

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 193-225
    6. Compensatory Retribution

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 227-252
    7. Riot, Bushranging, Piracy and Revolt

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 253-286
    8. Nothing to Lose but Your Chains

      • Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan
      Pages 287-316
  4. Back Matter

    Pages 317-349

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, University of New England, Armidale, Australia

    Hamish Maxwell-Stewart

  • School of Management, Business School, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Michael Quinlan

About the authors

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.

Michael Quinlan is emeritus professor of industrial relations at UNSW, Australia, as well as holding posts at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and Middlesex University, UK. He has researched and published extensively on the history and regulation of work (including occupational health and safety) and worker organisation.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Unfree Workers

  • Book Subtitle: Insubordination and Resistance in Convict Australia, 1788-1860

  • Authors: Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Michael Quinlan

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Economic History

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7558-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-16-7557-7Published: 13 January 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-16-7560-7Published: 14 January 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-16-7558-4Published: 12 January 2022

  • Series ISSN: 2662-6497

  • Series E-ISSN: 2662-6500

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 349

  • Number of Illustrations: 19 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Economic History, Labor Economics, Australasian History

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access