History Unsweetened: Festival of Ideas

After the abolition of slavery, Britain implemented a new system of unfree labour to maintain its power and profit. Hear the stories of the Indian men and women who were brought to the Caribbean to work on sugar and cocoa plantations during the period of Indian Indentureship, many settling there permanently. Their exploitation – and entrepreneurship – enabled the growth of familiar global confectionary companies such as Rowntree’s.

Watch the video below for a journey through archival photographs, family histories and documentary film, and learn more about the contemporary forms of unfree labour which endure in supply chains across the world.