Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in French and British Africa (African Studies, Series Number 89)

This detailed and authoritative volume changes our conceptions of 'imperial' and 'African' history. Frederick Cooper gathers a vast range of archival sources in French and English to achieve a truly comparative study of colonial policy toward the recruitment, control, and institutionalization of African labor forces from the mid 1930's, when the labor question was first posed, to the late 1950's, when decolonization was well under way. Professor Cooper explores colonial conceptions of the African worker and shows how African trade union and political leaders used the new language of social change to claim equality and a share of power. This helped to persuade European officials that the 'modern' Africa they imagined was unaffordable. Britain and France could not reshape African society. As they left the continent, the question was how they had affected the ways in which Africans could reorganize society themselves This Detailed And Authoritative Volume Changes Our Conceptions Of Imperial And African History. Frederick Cooper Gathers A Vast Range Of Archival Sources In French And English To Achieve A Truly Comparative Study Of Colonial Policy Towards The Recruitment, Control, Institutionalization Of African Labor Forces From The Mid-1930s, When The Labor Question Was First Posed, To The Late 1950s, When Decolonization Was Well Under Way. Professor Cooper Explores Colonial Conceptions Of The African Worker, And Shows How African Trade Union And Political Leaders Used The New Language Of Social Change To Claim Equal Wages, Equal Benefits, And Share Of Power. This Helped To Persuade European Officials That Their Post-war Project Of Building A Modern Africa Within The Colonial System Was Both Unaffordable And Politically Impossible. France And Great Britain Left The Continent, Insisting The They Had Made It Possible For Africans To Organize Wage Labor And Urban Life In The Image Of Industrial Societies While Abdicating To African Elites Responsibility For The Consequences Of The Colonial Intervention. They Left Behind The Question Of How Much The New Language For Discussing Social Policy Corresponded To The Lived Experience Of African Workers And Their Families And How Much Room For Maneuver Africans In Government Or In Social Movements Had To Recognize Work, Family, And Community In Their Own Ways.--jacket. Map Of French And British Colonial Africa -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Labor Question Unposed -- 3. Reforming Imperialism, 1935-1940 -- 4. Forced Labor, Strike Movements, And The Idea Of Development, 1940-1945 -- 5. Imperial Plans -- 6. Crises -- 7. The Systematic Approach: The French Code Du Travail -- 8. Family Wages And Industrial Relations In British Africa -- 9. Internationalists, Intellectuals, And The Labor Question -- 10. The Burden Of Declining Empire -- 11. Delinking Colony And Metropole: French Africa In The 1950s -- 12. Nation, International Trade Unionism, And Race: Anglophone Africa In The 1950s -- 13. The Wages Of Modernity And The Price Of Sovereignty. Frederick Cooper. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Frontmatter List of tables and figure (page x) Preface (page xi) List of abbreviations (page xvi) Map of French and British colonial Africa (page xviii) 1 Introduction (page 1) Part I: The dangers of expansion and the dilemmas of reform (page 21) Introduction (page 23) 2 The labor question unposed (page 25) 3 Reforming imperialism, 1935-1940 (page 57) 4 Forced labor, strike movements, and the idea of development, 1940-1945 (page 110) Conclusion: posing the labor question (page 167) Part II: Imperial fantasies and colonial crises (page 171) Introduction (page 173) 5 Imperial plans (page 176) 6 Crises (page 225) Conclusion: modernity, backwardness, and the colonial state (page 261) Part III: The imagining of a working class (page 271) Introduction (page 273) 7 The systematic approach: the French Code du Travail (page 277) 8 Family wages and industrial relations in British Africa (page 323) 9 Internationalists, intellectuals and the labor question (page 361) Conclusion: labor and the modernizing state (page 383) Part IV: Devolving power and abdicating responsibility (page 387) Introduction (page 389) 10 The burden of declining empire (page 392) 11 Delinking colony and metropole: French Africa in the 1950s (page 407) 12 Nation, international trade unionism, and race: anglophone Africa in the 1950s (page 432) Conclusion: the social meaning of decolonization (page 451) Conclusion (page 455) 13 The wages of modernity and the price of sovereignty (page 457) Notes (page 473) Bibliography (page 627) Index (page 657)