The Institutionalization of Contract Labour in Namibia

Bibliographic Data

ID4604281
AuthorsAllan D Cooper (0000-0001-9012-9892, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume25
Issue1
Pages121-138
Publication date1999-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/030570799108786
OpenAlexW2126001656
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited8

The South West African Native Labour Association (SWANLA) has received much attention by scholars of Namibia as the primary source of exploitation that eventually led to the rise of the independence movement led by SWAPO. Little attention has been given to SWANLA's predecessors, the Southern Labour Organisation (SLO) and the Northern Labour Organisation (NLO), which recruited and administered contract labour during the inter-war years. These two organizations played a fundamental role in breaking down traditional African societies in Namibia, and in creating a wage-labour economy in the southwest African territory. This study uses archival documents from the SLO and the NLO to reveal how the contract labour system was institutionalized in Namibia after World War One. This analysis confirms the centrality of the diamond industry for explaining the nature of contract labour, and much of Namibian politics itself, during the twentieth century in Namibia

Economics · Geography · Institutionalisation · Labour economics · Labour law · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Spanish Civil War · Wage · Wage labour · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · Law

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