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Coolie Woman: A Conversation with Gaiutra Bahadur

Coolie Woman: A Conversation with Gaiutra Bahadur published on

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Monday, December 2nd, 2013
Title: Coolie Woman with Gaiutra Bahadur
Abstract: In 1903, a young woman sailed from India to Guiana as a “coolie”—the British name for indentured laborers who replaced the newly emancipated slaves on sugar plantations all around the world. Pregnant and traveling alone, this woman, like so many coolies, disappeared into history. Now, in Coolie Woman, her great-granddaughter Gaiutra Bahadur embarks on a journey into the past to find her. Traversing three continents and trawling through countless colonial archives, Bahadur excavates not only her great-grandmother’s story but also the repressed history of some quarter of a million other coolie women, shining a light on their complex lives.
Speakers: Gauitra Bahadur, Author; Moderator: Bruce Shapiro
Location: Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
Co-sponsored with the Dart Center.