African Labor History by Gutkind, Peter C. W.; Cohen, Robin; Copans, Jean;

Short description:

Originally published in 1978, this book was distinctive in translating the work of French labour specialists and includes chapters on Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Tanganyika, Madagascar and Botswana

Long description:

Originally published in 1978, this book was distinctive in translating the work of French labour specialists and includes chapters on Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Tanganyika, Madagascar and Botswana. Although all the papers are set in historically specific events, some of the larger issues receive further treatment. These concern the reality of the existence of an African working class and its class identity and consciousness. Each contributor adds to the debate by means of demonstrating how African workers have responded to their work situation, to deprivation and exploitation, and to the political authority of the colonial or neocolonial state

Original Reviews of African Labor History:

‘A useful overview mapping progress made in both the Anglophone and Francophone traditions in labour studies’ – Mike Mason Labour/Le Travailleur, Spring 1981

 ‘[In this book] labor is now primarily an object of study not of anthropology but of history (and to a lesser extent sociology) in Africa. The colonial period has been reinterpreted as the era of capitalist penetration and, in varying degrees, the introduction into Africa of capitalist production. African Labor History posed a more radical challenge and insisted on the classic revolutionary thrust of the proletariat as its historic task in Africa’ – Bill Freund African Studies Review, 27 (2) 1984

Table of Contents:

Introduction Robin Cohen, Jean Copans and Peter C. W. Gutkind. 1. An Emerging Nigerian Working Class: The Lagos Experience, 1897-1939 Arnold Hughes and Robin Cohen 2. Working on the Railway: Forced Labor in Northern Nigeria, 1907-1912 Michael Mason 3. The 192 Strike on the Rand: White Labor and the Political Economy of South Africa Robert Davies 4. Tragedy at Thiaroye: The Senegalese Soldiers’ Uprising of 1944 Myron J. Echenberg 5. The French West African Railway Workers’ Strike, 1947-1948 J. Suret-Canale 6. Trade Unionism in Kenya, 1947-1952: The Militant Phase Sharon Stichter 7. Unionization and Employer Strategy: The Tanganyikan Sisal Industry, 1958-1964 Dianne Bolton 8. Strikes, Urban Mass Action and Political Change: Tananarive, 1972 Gerard Althabe 9. The State, Mineworkers and Multinationals: The Selebe Phikwe Strike, Botswana 1975 David Cooper.