Migration for ‘white man's work
An empirical rebuttal to Marxist theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6031017 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Isaie Dougnon (University of Bamako, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 353-371 |
| Publication date | 2009-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Identities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14725840903031841 |
| OpenAlex | W2010346262 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 18 |
Enlisted between 1920 and 1960 for mines in Ghana and and for the construction of the Markala dam in Mali, migrant Dogon workers offer a definition of colonial work that runs counter to that of Marxist intellectuals who have denounced it in all its forms. Within the colonial towns, the migrant workers established a hierarchy of tasks according to the amount of labour and the technical and social organisation required to accomplish them. This article analyses why the Dogon migrant workers glorified colonial work in these different dimensions (time, organisation, discipline). This new hierarchisation of activities places ‘white man's work’ at the top, and other activities at the bottom, of the scale. The following questions lie at the heart of this article: (1) In what manner does the discourse of Africanist researchers reflect the practices, the experiences, and the minds of those people who migrated and worked in colonial centres? (2) Does the ‘ancestral’ system of work have any influence on the differentiation and evaluation of the ‘white man's work’? (3) Does the local classification of village activities have any effect upon the classification of the colonial world
Capitalism · Colonialism · Economic growth · Hierarchy · Marxist philosophy · Migrant workers · Political science · Politics · Racism · Rebuttal · Sociology · White supremacy · African history and culture studies · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law
Work, culture, and identity
Maidens, meal, and money
Culture, Power, Place
The Human Condition
Africa
Old Modes of Production and Capitalist Encroachment
Transnationalism and nationalism in the Nigerian Seamen's Union
Labour Migration in Colonial Tanzania and the Hegemony of South African Historiography
Social Anthropology of Work
Le travail force en Afrique occidentale française (1900-1946)
L'expression de l'idée de travail dans une langue d'initiés soudanais
La notion de travail en Afrique noire
Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism
The Moon Is Dead! Give Us Our Money! The Cultural Origins of an African Work Ethic, Natal, South Africa, 1843-1900
De la division du travail social
Le travail inégal
L'Office du Niger au Mali
Histoire et structure
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,15 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2016 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |