Amarjit Kaur provides a comprehensive analysis of wage labour systems in the mining, plantation and manufacturing sectors in Southeast Asia. She presents a fundamental reassessment of the nature of wage labour and charts its development in the region during the colonial period and at the present time, and explores the impact of globalization on employment relations. Issues addressed include: cheap labour and the Asian Miracle; gendered labour relations; women workers in industrializing Asia; the role of the state in structuring labour relations; and the trade union and labour movements.