Finding the Caribbean Coolie Woman: History, Power and Memory

History Watch: The Podcast Series

In this podcast, Professor Gaiutra Bahadur of Rutgers University is in conversation with Audra A. Diptée. Professor Bahadur discusses the story of and challenges in writing her book "Coolie Woman" which was shortlisted for Britain's Orwell Prize. The podcast discusses the history of her great-grandmother who left India alone and pregnant in the early 20th century to go to British Guiana (modern day Guyana). Together Bahadur & Diptee discuss the ways in which the very remarkable story of her grandmother was in fact a very ordinary history of Indian women travelling to the Caribbean under the indentured labour system. They also discuss the challenges of recovering lost voices and the ways in which the politics and power of historical memory operates in the present day.