Between Global Standards and Unequal Treatment

This book investigates the development and impact of racialised labour policies and discourses within the International Labour Organization (ILO) from its founding in 1919 to the late 1950s. Drawing on postcolonial theory and critical race studies, it examines how key actors, including bureaucrats, colonial experts, and tripartite representatives, engaged with the intersections of race and labour. While colonial labour serves as a central focus, revealing the power asymmetries underlying these debates, the analysis also considers the participation of independent member states with predominantly non-white populations. A detailed case study of India highlights its unique position as the ILO's only non-sovereign member and traces its transformation through decolonisation into a post-colonial state. Offering new insights into the racial foundations of international labour governance, the book advances debates on colonial labour in Global Labour History, racialised knowledge production in international organisations, imperial internationalism, and the historical dynamics of epistemic inequality.