Buruh Siluman: The making and maintaining of cheap and disciplined labour on oil palm plantations in Indonesia

Abstract

Increasing attention has been paid to working conditions on Indonesian oil palm plantations. Reports have documented decent work deficits on plantations in Indonesia that are associated with cheap and disciplined labour as an important feature of the plantation labour regime. This chapter focuses on female labour on oil palm plantations. Drawing on insights from feminist theories, the coloniality/modernity school of thought, as well as literature on racial capitalism, this chapter argues that female labour on plantations, often called buruh siluman, plays a central role in the making and maintaining of these kinds of labour relations.