Forged in Genocide : Migrant Workers Shaping Colonial Capitalism in Namibia, 1890-1925.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Lyon, William Blakemore.

Contributor:

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Funder.

Series:

Africa in Global History Series

Africa in Global History Series ; v.9

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (344 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Basel/Berlin/Boston : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2024.

Summary:

Forged in Genocide traces the early history of colonial capitalism in Namibia with a central focus on migrants who came to be key to the economy during and as a result of the German genocide of the Herero and Nama (1904-1908). It posits that Namibia, far from being a colonial backwater of the early 20th century, became highly integrated into the labor flows and economies of West and Southern Africa, and even for a time was one of the most sought-after regions for African migrants because of relatively high wages and numerous opportunities resulting from the war's demographic devastation paired with an economic frenzy following the discovery of diamonds. In highlighting the life stories of migrants in Namibia from regions as diverse as the Kru coast of Liberia, the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and the Ovambo polities of Northern Namibia, this work integrates micro-history into larger African continental trends. Building off of written sources from migrants themselves and utilising the Namibian Worker Database constructed for this project, this book explores the lives of workers in early colonial Namibia in a way that has hereto not been attempted.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

Abbreviations

Glossary

Introduction

1 Colonial Contact Zones: Power, Politics and Labor at Early Work Sites in German South West Africa, 1892-1903

2 The Human Infrastructure of the Namibian War: Origins of the 'Namibian Labor Corridors' in War and Genocide, 1904-1908

3 Workers from the North: The Ovambo Labor Corridor, 1905-1914

4 Privileged but Precarious West and South African Migrants: Labor Elite and Entrepreneurs, 1908-1914

5 The End of the 'Namibian Labor Corridors': War, Pandemic, Unions, and Garveyism, 1914-1925

Conclusion

Figures

Tables

Primary Sources

Bibliography

Name Index

Subject Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Diss. Humboldt University of Berlin 2022.

ISBN:

9783111374918

3111374912

OCLC:

1446130264