The Peculiarities of African Labour and Working-Class History

The article reviews and comments on "The Development of an African Working Class: Studies in Class Formation and Action," edited by Richard Sandbrook and Robin Cohen, "Forced Labour in Colonial Africa," by A.T. Nzula, I.I. Potekhim, and A.Z. Zusmanovich, "Organize or Starve: The History of the South African Congress of Trade Unions," by Ken Luckhardt and Brenda Wall, "Peasants and Proletarians: The Struggles of Third World Workers," edited by Robin Cohen, Peter Gutkind, and Phyllis Brazier, "African Labor History," edited by Peter Gutkind, Robin Cohen, and Jean Copans, "Black Mineworkers in Central Africa," by Charles Perrings, and "Chibaro: African Mine Labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1919-1933," by Charles Van Onselen.