The Transformation of Human Labor in Southeast Asia

Ou labor throughout southeast asia has long been organized, above all, through relations of debt, bondage. Even in relatively simple societies, little penetrated by money, there were ritual needs for substantial expenditures. It is widely reported that such ritual needs are the most cmmon reason why the poor become indebted to the rich. For instance, one practice noted from tiland to sulawesi is for a group of poor brothers to turn to a rich sponsor to pay for the expenses of one brother's marriage. He is then referred to as their master. This is more like a patron client relation than anything else.