Beyond Racism and Poverty

The truck system was a global phenomenon in the period 1865-1920, where workers were paid through the company store. In 'Beyond Racism and Poverty' Karin Lurvink compares how this system functioned on plantations in Louisiana and peateries in the Netherlands. In the US, the system is viewed as a 'second slavery' and is strongly associated with racism. In the Netherlands, however, not racism but poverty was seen as the main reason for its continued existence.0By using a variety of historical sources and by analyzing the perspectives of both employers and workers, Lurvink provides new insights into how the truck system worked and can be explained. She reveals how the system was not only coercive but had some advantages for the workers as well, which should not be overlooked.