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29 - Chinese Coolie Hats

Global Dialogues on a Sign of Servitude, c. 1840–1940

from Part V - Fashion, Colonialism, and Post-Colonialism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2023

By
Miki Sugiura
Edited by
Christopher Breward ,
Beverly Lemire  and
Giorgio Riello
Christopher Breward
Affiliation:
National Museums Scotland
Beverly Lemire
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Giorgio Riello
Affiliation:
European University Institute, Florence
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Summary

Even the humblest item of clothing can be imbued with critical meanings. This is the case with the Chinese coolie hat, headwear linked to the mass migration of indentured labour, populations whose toil shaped colonial societies and cultures globally. Central to this chapter is understanding how indentured labourers’ clothing – the clothing of servitude – was created and disseminated beyond borders, how it interacted with production and consumption, and what agency and impact it had. This chapter is also an endeavour to see how the very essence of forced and bonded labour – the forcefulness and social segregation – interplayed with clothing.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Global History of Fashion
From the Nineteenth Century to the Present
 , pp. 1023 - 1051
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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