Excavating the Roots of Modern Slavery and Wage Theft: Uncovering Experiences of and Resistance to the Truck System in Colonial Australia

This article uncovers the roots of what we now refer to as wage theft and modern slavery by focusing on the history of the truck system. Operating over several centuries and traversing numerous industries and occupations in many continents, this system involved non-monetary payment in goods and employer imposed restrictive accommodation, among other exploitative practices, which resulted in indebtedness often referred to as a form of slavery. Following the historiographical tradition of “history from below,” it exposes the voices of those who experienced and opposed the system in colonial Australia. Accordingly, it examines letters to the editor, editorials, newspaper articles and politicians’ speeches to investigate everyday resistance against the truck system. Framing such resistance as civic engagement enables consideration of how subaltern counterpublics used communicative power to express dissent and to influence public opinion through both non-political and political processes, thereby highlighting complex entanglements between different forms of resistance.