2 - Mutiny and Protest

Summary

This chapter explores the ways in which mutiny functioned as a form of protest aboard sailing vessels manned by lascars. Seafarers in every trade developed means of airing their grievances, improving their working conditions, venting their anger and defending themselves against their abusive officers. Mutiny was often one of the most sophisticated means of achieving these ends but it was by no means the most common or necessarily the most effective, and should always be situated within a broader spectrum of protest. It is important to consider the alternative strategies available to lascars since the relative success or failure of these determined the use of more disorderly forms of protest. These may be divided into four broad categories: making complaints to officers, attempts to avoid work, seeking aid from port authorities, and sabotage.

Opinions of what exactly qualifies as a mutiny vary considerably. Most of the mutinous incidents discussed in this chapter fall into the broad ‘promotion of interests’ category set out by Cornelis J. Lammers, in that they worked as part of the system in which they took place rather than trying to destroy it. We should be wary, however, of making our definition of mutiny overly inclusive. Christopher M. Bell and Bruce A. Elleman have criticised those who are ‘ready, if not eager, to apply the term to even the most minor incidents’.

The cultural setting of lascar protest presents a further problem of definition. As we shall see, acts of ‘mutiny’ which occurred in certain contexts bore very little resemblance to those which took place in others. Roebuck considered it necessary to include two vernacular terms for mutiny – dunga and fusad – in his dictionary, both of which were probably translated as ‘riot’ or ‘disturbance’. To what extent they were used by lascars and how they were understood remains unclear.

This chapter provides a typology of shipboard protest. It focuses on determined attempts by lascars to undermine authority through collective action and the use of violence. After discussing the alternative forms of protest outlined above, it divides mutiny into three broad groupings: ceremonies, festivals and demonstrations; collective refusals to work; and assaults on officers. Each witnessed lascar crews use collective and/or violent means to limit the authority of their captains.