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"An indispensable look at the working conditions, social lives, and collective action of black miners. . . . [Moodie's] meticulous, reflective, incessantly questioning approach to power, drink, sexuality, conflict, and routine life in mines and compounds reveals an extraordinary world at the edge of hope and desperation."—Charles Tilly, The New School for Social Research
"Combines a rigorous use of theory with a marvellous and sensitive sympathy."—Terence O. Ranger, co-editor of The Invention of Tradition
List of contents
Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
ONE WORKER IDENTITIES: MIGRANT CULTURES,
SOCIAL NETWORKS, AND THE PRACTICE
OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY
TWO PRODUCTION POLITICS: WORKPLACE CONTROL
AND WORKER RESISTANCE
THREE CONFRONTATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS:
COMPOUND HEGEMONY AND MORAL ECONOMY
FOUR SEXUALITIES: VARIATIONS ON
A PATRIARCHAL THEME
FIVE CONVIVIALITIES: DRINKING PATTERNS
SIX FACTION FIGHTS: MINE-WORKER VIOLENCE
SEVEN SOLIDARITIES: PRACTICES OF UNIONIZATION
Conclusion
Glossary
References
Index
About the author
T. Dunbar Moodie is Professor of Sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the author of The Rise of Afrikanerdom (California, 1975). Vivienne Ndatshe is a former teacher who now works as a domestic servant. She grew up in Pondoland, where her father was a migrant gold miner. Her interviews with mine workers and their families added an essential dimension to this work.
Summary
Tells the story of the lives of migrant black African men who work on the South African gold mines. This book examines the operation of local power structures and resistances, changes in production techniques, the limits and successes of unionization, and the nature of ethnic conflicts at different periods and on different terrains of struggle.
