What is it about?
This study sets out to investigate the human development situation of ethnic tea workers in Bangladesh against the underpinnings of human development theories by employing a qualitative research approach. We collected data for this study from people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and identities through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observation. The study finds that human development of ethnic tea workers is extremely constrained by the lack of their freedom and adequate income, which is systematically created by the tea planters to serve their business interests. Tea workers’ social isolation from the mainstream Bangladeshi society, coupled with their traditional social life and poor socioeconomic conditions, also manufactured by the regulatory systems, remains the significant marker for the deterrent of their human development. Different traditional beliefs, rituals and practices of these ethic communities are also spotted as contributing factors for their poor human development situation, forcing them to sustain the legacy of working-class status of their predecessors and wind up in the tea plantations for generations.
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Why is it important?
It is important for understanding why the tea workers and their families lack human development.
Perspectives
This publication is based on field research. The tea workers' real life experiences have been captured to analyze their absence of capacity and human development. We had a wonderful experience while pursuing this research.
Dr. Md Nazrul Islam
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ethnicity, culture and human development of Bangladesh’s tea workers, Labor History, May 2024, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/0023656x.2024.2353090.
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