Labor strategies in Northern Rhodesian copper mines, 1926—1935

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 2

The "labor aristocracy" thesis considered once again: the Northern Rhodesian Copperbelt 1926-1966

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 5

Gender, ideology and power: Marriage in the colonial copperbelt towns of Zambia

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented March 1991The state of African marriage in colonial Zambia has been a matter of discussion, research and policy debate since the colony developed in the late 19th century. The outline of these discussions is well known. Chanock (1985) has described the initial repugnance by missionaries and colonial rulers towards "barbaric" African marriage customs, and the provision of jura! rights to African women to counter this tendency. The resulting flood of marital litigation alarmed colonial and African (male) authorities, and consequently, in the 1920s, the discourse on African marriage changed. Researchers, missionaries and colonial officials expressed alarm about the "crisis in African marriage", particularly in the new urban centers. Traditional marriage customs, especially those strengthening control over women, began to be seen as a solution rather than a problem, and efforts to shore up traditional African marriage intensified (Richards 1940; Wilson 1942). During World War II the debate began to change, and concern for development spawned a renewed interest in marital stability, but this time in conjunction with support for the new developmental elite, the urban working and middle classes. Thus the debate came full circle- Once again colonial officials advocated a more interventive approach to African institutions, particularly marriage and the family, which were seen as central to issues of social and economic development as well as public order. While the outline of this debate is well known, there has been a tendency to present colonial discourse an marriage as a monolithic entity, lacking internal contradictions. The importance of these internal contradictions, and the contribution by African men and women to this debate, has been underestimated. The role of emerging class forces in the African community has also been largely ignored. This article is an attempt to achieve a deeper understanding of the debates around African marriage in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, with particular attention to the towns that grew up around the copper mines in the 1920s. The article intends to investigate the various strands of the debate around African marriage, and the possibility that contending interpretations of the crisis over colonial marriage in Africa, both in the European and African communities, may have provided openings for African women to influence the discourse on African marriage and the reality of their lives in town

Class consciousness among Zambian copper miners, 1950-1966

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 5

Sexuality and power on the Zambian Copperbelt, 1926-1964

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 12

Class and gender on the Copperbelt: women in northern Rhodesian copper mining areas 1926-1964

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 7

Who is the “other”? A postmodern feminist critique of women and development theory and practice.” Development and Change

ABSTRACT In the last decade poststructural and postmodern critiques have increasingly dominated the world of scholarship. The grand theories of the past have been called into question; universals have been overtaken by particularities and difference. Feminist scholars have reacted to postmodernism in a number of ways. Some reject it outright, while others call for a synthesis of feminist and postmodern approaches. Many scholars and activists concerned with Third World issues,' especially poverty and development. have rejected both feminism and postmodernism, dismissing them as First World preoccupations, if not indulgences. This article seeks to explore the relevance of postmodern feminism for Third World problems and analysis, particularly its utility for theorists and practitioners concerned with issues of women and development. POSTMODERNISM Postmodernism is not easily encapsulated in one phrase or idea, but is rather an amalgam of ideas put forward by a number of scholars. I will try to summarize the main themes, recognizing that I am no doubt over-simplifying many of them. On the widest level of abstraction, postmodern thinkers such as Jean-Francois Lyotard have questioned the assumptions of the modern age, particularly the belief that reason and scientific enquiry can provide an objective, reliable, and universal foundation for knowledge, and that reason itself has transcendental and universal qualities. The postmodernists challenge the notion that concepts such as knowledge, justice and beauty can be evaluated and established as universally correct. They Development and Change (SAGE

Working class wives and collective labor action on the Northern Rhodesian Copperbelt, 1926-1964

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 9

Labor and Capital on the African Copperbelt

Labor and Capital on the African Copperbelt is an admirable introduction to social formation and class struggle in a historic phase of central African history and a history of labor on the Copperbelt. Beginning with their experiences in the Northern Rhodesian copper mines in the 1920s, black miners and their families gradually developed a sense of themselves as a class of workers. Their class consciousness led them to form associations and to strike against the copper companies in 1935 and 1940. However, there were also periods in the 1950s and '60s where the companies and the government effectively neutralized labor protest. Drawing on interviews and company archives, this is an unusually rich and complete study of the complex relations among labor, capital, and the state, and Parpart connects the experiences that began in the corporate environment of the mines with the eventual success of the movement for Zambia independence The interviews provide a look into the daily lives of the workers, the rhythms of trade union development, and the nature of the fit between unionism and nationalist politics