Working Class Action and Informal Trade on the Durban Docks, 1930s-1950s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4863662 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ralph Callebert (0000-0003-4705-3989, Dalhousie University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 847-861 |
| Publication date | 2012-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03057070.2012.750917 |
| OpenAlex | W2074418123 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
In this article, I discuss the limited archival and other sources we have about three important African dock leaders in Durban between 1931 and 1949: Dick Mate, Amos Gumede, and Zulu Phungula. Scholars have described Phungula in particular as a proletarian hero. However, the actions and discourse of these leaders exhibit a distinctive combination of working class radicalism and a concern for the interests of African petty traders. Their thinking was also often characterised by economic nationalism and anti-Indian sentiments. Interviews with some of the leaders of the 1958 dock strikes demonstrate a similar mixture of working class and entrepreneurial concerns. I argue that these seemingly contradictory actions and discourses may not be inconsistent. The working class discourse was not simply an attempt by a petty bourgeoisie to appeal to African workers, as it was for some other African leaders, and Zulu nationalism was not a surrogate for repressed working class action. Instead, these different approaches to socio-economic advancement reflected the livelihood strategies of many dock workers, who combined formal wage labour with informal commercial enterprises. Moreover, their employment on the docks made these small-scale businesses possible and these activities were thus not just two separate sources of income; they were functionally linked and integral parts of households’ livelihood strategies
Economic growth · Economics · Informal sector · Livelihood · Nationalism · Political economy · Political radicalism · Political science · Politics · Proletariat · Sociology · Working class · Zulu · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · History · Law · South African History and Culture
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,46 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2018 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |