The African Worker

This 1988 book introduces the reader to the literature and the main theoretical and social issues that have arisen from the African working class.

This 1988 book introduces the reader to the literature on the African working class and the main theoretical and social issues that have arisen from it. The history of the emergence of a wage-earning class is outlined and its various cultural, social and political forms are discussed.The African Worker, first published in 1988, was intended as a synthesis considering issues and debates from the work of many writers on labour history and labour studies in Africa. The development of a particular critical literature, spanning a number of disciplines, is critically considered. In some respects, the concerns of past generations have been to align the understanding of labour issues in Africa with those more generally in the modern world. In others, the emphasis remains on the specific and African. Both directions clearly emerge here. The bibliographical essay, as well as the bibliography itself, is meant to point readers further who want a higher order of detail, a regional focus or a more thorough-going theoretical treatment of all or some of the relevant issues.