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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'Kafir Time': Preindustrial Temporal Concepts and Labour Discipline in Nineteenth Century Colonial Natal
Author:Atkins, Keletso E.ISNI
Year:1988
Periodical:The Journal of African History
Volume:29
Issue:2
Pages:229-244
Language:English
Geographic terms:Natal
South Africa
Great Britain
Subjects:colonialism
labour migration
time
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Labor and Employment
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/182382
Abstract:This article attempts to understand in substantive terms the nature of black proletarianization in Natal, South Africa. Focusing on the underlying cultural premises that ordered the day-to-day activities of northern Nguni communities, it examines their temporal perceptions, explores the shift from peasant to industrial time within the colonial context, and shows the central role mission churches played in the transition process. It demonstrates the existence of a rich history of nineteenth-century African labour action (where until now the assumption among historians has been that no such activity existed), much of which was related to the struggle over the definition of time. It also presents a more balanced picture of the migrant worker: some groups of labourers continued to adhere to old attachments, others adapted in a remarkable way to the conditions of the industrial workplace. Both were capable of dictating the terms of labour, whether they involved demands for the lunar month or the half-holiday and Sabbath restday. Notes, ref.
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