Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in French and British Africa

by Frederick Cooper, David Anderson (Editor), Carolyn Brown (Editor)

This authoritative volume changes our conceptions of "imperial" and "African" history. Frederick Cooper gathers a vast range of archival sources to achieve a truly comparative study of colonial policy toward African labor forces. He shows how African trade union and political leaders used the new language of social change to claim equality and a share of power. In the end, Britain and France could not reshape African society. As they left the continent, the question was how they had affected the ways in which Africans could reorganize society themselves.

Genres: History, Africa

700 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 1996

About the author

Frederick Cooper is an American historian who specializes in colonialization, decolonialization, and African history. Cooper received his Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University in 1974 and is currently professor of history at New York University.

Cooper initially studied the labor movement in East Africa, but later moved on the a broader consideration of colonialism. One of his best known conceptual contributions is the concept of the gatekeeper state.

Reviews

[Gerard]

The breadth of this book is awesome. The concerns and policies of colonial labor administrators, the massive forces unleashed by industrialization (including proletarianization, mass migration, social recomposition on a huge scale), and the African response to this. Would have liked to see more voices of African workers themselves, but I can imagine that such sources are difficult if not impossible to find.

[Benemint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is massive. Consider this as 4 volumes in one. It's really worth taking a look, at least at his conclusions. Great empiricism and huuuge questions.