Opolot Okia
Biographic Data
| ID | 386779 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Opolot Okia |
| GIVEN NAMES | Opolot |
| FAMILY NAME | Okia |
| SIGNATURE | OKIA O |
| AFFILIATIONS | Wright State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0790-4315 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
A Colonial Matryoshka Doll: Rubu “Traditional” Labor in the Uganda Protectorate, 1923–39
This paper analyzes the use of rubu unpaid “traditional” labor in Toro District in western Uganda during the colonial period. It explores how the “traditional” roots of the unpaid labor system were negotiated and reinterpreted by African elites through their attempts to gain more control over the labor through wrangling over exemptions and commutations for the work which, then, shaped British responses to the forced labor regime. Chiefs managed r…
Imperial Gallows: Murder, Violence and the Death Penalty in British Colonial Africa, c.1915–60 , by Stacey Hynd
Migration and Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Colonial Period
Volume 2 of The Cambridge History of Global Migrations presents an authoritative overview of the various continuities and changes in migration and globalization from the 1800s to the present day. Despite revolutionary changes in communication technologies, the growing accessibility of long-distance travel, and globalization across major economies, the rise of nation-states empowered immigration regulation and bureaucratic capacities for enforceme…
The Cambridge History of Global Migrations: Migrations, 1800-Present
Volume II presents an authoritative overview of the various continuities and changes in migration and globalization from the 1800s to the present day. Despite revolutionary changes in communication technologies, the growing accessibility of long-distance travel, and globalization across major economies, the rise of nation-states empowered immigration regulation and bureaucratic capacities for enforcement that curtailed migration. One major theme …
Forced Labor and Migration in British East and West Africa
This chapter aims to historicize the shifting interplay between labor migration and coercive labor practices in British East and West Africa. An analysis of Uganda, Kenya, and the Gold Coast reveals three important links between forced labor and migration. During the early period of colonial rule, until the 1930s, colonial administrations used direct forced labor and a range of indirect coercive interventions in labor markets such as taxation to …
General Labour History of Africa: Workers, Employers and Governments, 20th–21st Century
Stefano Belluci and Andreas Eckert's recent publication, General Labour History of Africa, is a timely contribution to African labor history. James Curry, an imprint of Boydell & Brewer LTD, copublished the edited book with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to mark the centenary of the organization's founding in 1919. Belluci is a senior researcher at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam while Eckert is the directo…
Emergency Communal Labor and Gender in Central Province During the Mau Mau War in Kenya, 1953–1960
This article examines the Kenya Colony administration’s use of communal labor as a punitive, coercive labor practice during the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s. Faced with the Mau Mau rebellion, the administration transformed the preexisting communal labor system and began to use it on an unprecedented scale as a form of collective punishment against the mainly Kikuyu African civilian populations thought to be in collusion with the Mau Mau guerril…
Virtual Abolition: The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate
Luwalo was a type of “traditional,” unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization’s Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo . With the looming prospect of abolition, the administr…
Virtual Abolition: The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate
Luwalo was a type of "traditional," unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization's Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo. With the looming prospect of abolition, the administra…
Interlude: Forced Labor Bounded, 1921–1925
The discourse over the Northey labor circular and the subsequent state response effectively bounded forced labor for private purposes. A later 1922 dispatch to the governor of Kenya, Sir Robert Coryndon, reinforced the policy behind Churchill’s dispatch concerning government recruitment for private interests.1 Following Churchill’s dispatch, the Colonial Office (CO) also gradually moved to curtail paid government-forced labor for state purposes o…
The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1919–1921
T he problem of African labor arose again almost immediately following the end of World War I with the acquittance of a labor circular from the new governor, Sir Edward Northey (1919–1922), in 1919. The circular was released due to a shortage of labor occasioned by forced labor recruitment for the Carrier Corps during the war and the increased demands for labor from European settlers coinciding with famine and disease. 2 In issuing the circular, …
The Juridical Foundation of Government Forced Labor, 1902–1912
The machination of forced labor in Kenya was a mirror of general colonial practice in other parts of Africa. Before delving into the early history of forced labor in Kenya Colony in Chapter 3, it is first necessary to take a slight detour through the legal and ideological terrain that governed forced labor in Kenya. In this chapter we discuss the legal foundation of the various types of forced labor used during the early period of Kenya’s history…
“Making the Lazy Nigger Work”: European Settlers, the State, and Forced Labor, 1895–1919
Chapter 2 examined the early legal and ideological framework of coercion in Kenya Colony. In this chapter we go beyond the laws and delve into the operation of forced labor in Kenya from the colony's inception in 1895 to World War I. More specifically, we examine the operation of forced recruitment of African labor for private individuals or Europe settlers. During this early period in Kenya's history, recurrent European demands for cheap African…
Forced Labor and Colonial Development in Africa
As European powers began to assert hegemony in much of Africa during the early twentieth century, forced labor became a common and cheap method of organizing the labor of colonial subjects. The impoverished colonial states needed cheap African labor for infrastructure development while, in settler colonies, European immigrants and business interests also required affordable labor to squeeze out profit margins.1 The myth of the lazy African male, …
Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya: The Legitimization of Coercion, 1912–1930
Werengeka's Anxiety Forced Labor and Colonial Development in Africa The Juridical Foundation of Government Forced Labor 'Making the Lazy Nigger Work:' European Settlers, the State and Forced Labor, 1895-1919 The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1919-1921 Interlude: Forced Labor Bounded, 1921-1925 Normalizing Force: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the Issue of Communal Labor, 1920-1930
Generations past: Youth in East African history
In the interests of community: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the issue of communal labour in colonial Kenya, 1921–30
Peoples Versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century (review)
Gurr, Ted Robert. 2000. People Versus States: Minorities At Risk In The New Century. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press. 399 pp
Making the Black Atlantic: Britain and the African Diaspora
King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain through African Eyes (review)
Parson, Neil. 1998. King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain through African Eyes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 322 pp
Making the Black Atlantic: Britain and the African Diaspora
Virtual Abolition: The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate
Luwalo was a type of "traditional," unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization's Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo. With the looming prospect of abolition, the administra…
In the interests of community: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the issue of communal labour in colonial Kenya, 1921–30
Making the Black Atlantic: Britain and the African Diaspora
King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain through African Eyes (review)
Parson, Neil. 1998. King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain through African Eyes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 322 pp
Peoples Versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century (review)
Gurr, Ted Robert. 2000. People Versus States: Minorities At Risk In The New Century. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press. 399 pp
In the interests of community: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the issue of communal labour in colonial Kenya, 1921–30
Interlude: Forced Labor Bounded, 1921–1925
The discourse over the Northey labor circular and the subsequent state response effectively bounded forced labor for private purposes. A later 1922 dispatch to the governor of Kenya, Sir Robert Coryndon, reinforced the policy behind Churchill’s dispatch concerning government recruitment for private interests.1 Following Churchill’s dispatch, the Colonial Office (CO) also gradually moved to curtail paid government-forced labor for state purposes o…
The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1919–1921
T he problem of African labor arose again almost immediately following the end of World War I with the acquittance of a labor circular from the new governor, Sir Edward Northey (1919–1922), in 1919. The circular was released due to a shortage of labor occasioned by forced labor recruitment for the Carrier Corps during the war and the increased demands for labor from European settlers coinciding with famine and disease. 2 In issuing the circular, …
The Juridical Foundation of Government Forced Labor, 1902–1912
The machination of forced labor in Kenya was a mirror of general colonial practice in other parts of Africa. Before delving into the early history of forced labor in Kenya Colony in Chapter 3, it is first necessary to take a slight detour through the legal and ideological terrain that governed forced labor in Kenya. In this chapter we discuss the legal foundation of the various types of forced labor used during the early period of Kenya’s history…
“Making the Lazy Nigger Work”: European Settlers, the State, and Forced Labor, 1895–1919
Chapter 2 examined the early legal and ideological framework of coercion in Kenya Colony. In this chapter we go beyond the laws and delve into the operation of forced labor in Kenya from the colony's inception in 1895 to World War I. More specifically, we examine the operation of forced recruitment of African labor for private individuals or Europe settlers. During this early period in Kenya's history, recurrent European demands for cheap African…
Forced Labor and Colonial Development in Africa
As European powers began to assert hegemony in much of Africa during the early twentieth century, forced labor became a common and cheap method of organizing the labor of colonial subjects. The impoverished colonial states needed cheap African labor for infrastructure development while, in settler colonies, European immigrants and business interests also required affordable labor to squeeze out profit margins.1 The myth of the lazy African male, …
Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya: The Legitimization of Coercion, 1912–1930
Werengeka's Anxiety Forced Labor and Colonial Development in Africa The Juridical Foundation of Government Forced Labor 'Making the Lazy Nigger Work:' European Settlers, the State and Forced Labor, 1895-1919 The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1919-1921 Interlude: Forced Labor Bounded, 1921-1925 Normalizing Force: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the Issue of Communal Labor, 1920-1930
Generations past: Youth in East African history
Virtual Abolition: The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate
Luwalo was a type of “traditional,” unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization’s Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo . With the looming prospect of abolition, the administr…
Virtual Abolition: The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate
Luwalo was a type of "traditional," unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization's Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo. With the looming prospect of abolition, the administra…
Emergency Communal Labor and Gender in Central Province During the Mau Mau War in Kenya, 1953–1960
This article examines the Kenya Colony administration’s use of communal labor as a punitive, coercive labor practice during the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s. Faced with the Mau Mau rebellion, the administration transformed the preexisting communal labor system and began to use it on an unprecedented scale as a form of collective punishment against the mainly Kikuyu African civilian populations thought to be in collusion with the Mau Mau guerril…
General Labour History of Africa: Workers, Employers and Governments, 20th–21st Century
Stefano Belluci and Andreas Eckert's recent publication, General Labour History of Africa, is a timely contribution to African labor history. James Curry, an imprint of Boydell & Brewer LTD, copublished the edited book with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to mark the centenary of the organization's founding in 1919. Belluci is a senior researcher at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam while Eckert is the directo…
Forced Labor and Migration in British East and West Africa
This chapter aims to historicize the shifting interplay between labor migration and coercive labor practices in British East and West Africa. An analysis of Uganda, Kenya, and the Gold Coast reveals three important links between forced labor and migration. During the early period of colonial rule, until the 1930s, colonial administrations used direct forced labor and a range of indirect coercive interventions in labor markets such as taxation to …
Migration and Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Colonial Period
Volume 2 of The Cambridge History of Global Migrations presents an authoritative overview of the various continuities and changes in migration and globalization from the 1800s to the present day. Despite revolutionary changes in communication technologies, the growing accessibility of long-distance travel, and globalization across major economies, the rise of nation-states empowered immigration regulation and bureaucratic capacities for enforceme…
The Cambridge History of Global Migrations: Migrations, 1800-Present
Volume II presents an authoritative overview of the various continuities and changes in migration and globalization from the 1800s to the present day. Despite revolutionary changes in communication technologies, the growing accessibility of long-distance travel, and globalization across major economies, the rise of nation-states empowered immigration regulation and bureaucratic capacities for enforcement that curtailed migration. One major theme …
Imperial Gallows: Murder, Violence and the Death Penalty in British Colonial Africa, c.1915–60 , by Stacey Hynd
A Colonial Matryoshka Doll: Rubu “Traditional” Labor in the Uganda Protectorate, 1923–39
This paper analyzes the use of rubu unpaid “traditional” labor in Toro District in western Uganda during the colonial period. It explores how the “traditional” roots of the unpaid labor system were negotiated and reinterpreted by African elites through their attempts to gain more control over the labor through wrangling over exemptions and commutations for the work which, then, shaped British responses to the forced labor regime. Chiefs managed r…
African history and culture studies (17 works) · Political science (17 works) · Law (12 works) · Economics (9 works) · Colonialism (8 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (6 works) · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics (6 works) · History (6 works)