Slavery by any other name : African life under company rule in colonial Mozambique / Eric Allina.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allina, Eric

Series:

Reconsiderations in southern African history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Companhia de Moçambique.

Forced labor--Mozambique--History.

Forced labor.

History.

Labor policy.

Colonies.

Administration.

Mozambique--History--1891-1975.

Mozambique.

Mozambique--Economic conditions--To 1975.

Economic conditions.

Portugal--Colonies--Africa--Administration.

Portugal.

Labor policy--Mozambique--History.

Companhia de Moçambique--History.

Africa.

Physical Description:

xiii, 255 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2012.

Summary:

The Mozambique Company governed central Mozambique during the late 19th and 20th centuries, using forced labor in a modern form of slavery. Allina (history, U. of Ottawa) examines the history of forced labor in colonial Africa in the context of the history of debates on empire and slavery. He draws on oral testimony from about 100 Mozambican elders (conducted by the author in 1997 and 1998), whose stories often conflict with the archival records of the Mozambique Company from 1892 to 1942. The book's preface details the discovery of the long-lost archival records. The author then describes the extent of the company's forced labor and its impact on Africans, showing how Africans coped with colonial oppression by flight, farming, wage labor, and cultural assimilation, as well as hidden resistance through satirical songs, jokes, and spiritual beliefs. The book includes b&w historical photos. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Ending slavery and creating empire in Africa: from the "Indelible stain" to the "light of civilization"

From law to practice: "certain excesses of severity"

The critiques and defenses of modern slavery: from without and within, above and below

Mobility and tactical flight: of workers, chiefs, and villages

Targeting chiefs: from "fictitious obedience" to "extraordinary political disorder"

Seniority and subordination: disciplining youth and controlling women's labor

An "absolute freedom" circumscribed and circumvented: "Employers chosen of their own free will"

Upward mobility: "improvement of one's social condition"

Conclusion: forced labor's legacy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813932729

0813932726

9780813932750

0813932750

OCLC:

746712294