Universität Wien
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070290 UE Reading Course Global History and Global Studies (2024S)

Global Labor Histories of Africa in the 19th and 20th Century

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 04.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 11.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 18.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 08.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 15.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 22.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 29.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 06.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 13.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 27.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 03.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 10.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 17.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 24.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In his famous 1972 book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Guyanese historian Walter Rodney developed a dialectical view of Euro-Atlantic relations, according to which he argued that while Europe underdeveloped Africa, it was Africa's labor (force) that developed Europe and North America. More than forty years later, Frederick Cooper, in an essay (2006) on the state of research in global labor history, reminded us “how much Africa has been shaped by its connections to the rest of the world and how much the world as we know it has been shaped by the labor of Africans.” After a heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, interest in both labor history and Africa ebbed in subsequent decades. However, from around the mid-2000s onwards, significantly influenced by the turn towards the 'global' in many branches of the humanities, labor history under the label of 'global labor history' experienced a revitalization and remarkable upswing. The goal of the seminar is to introduce students to the vitality and broad scope of global labor history and Africa’s place in it. To accomplish this, the introductory sessions will debate relevant texts on Africa in global labor history. Afterwards, selected topics will be presented in which the instructors have their research foci, such as: African trade unionism, African parastatal companies and business history, coerced labor, democratization of labor (workers' self-management), construction work, mining, agricultural work, etc.

Assessment and permitted materials

The course will be in English. The students are expected to engage in continuous work throughout the semester with weekly reading and writing assignments as well as in-class discussions. Keeping in mind that many course attendants will arrive with different disciplinary backgrounds, the course instructors will make a special effort to set up a common level of reflection and debate for all the participants. Students will be assigned weekly readings and are expected to prepare introductory questions based upon the texts for collective discussion each week. Additionally, each student will briefly introduce one text to the class once in the semester while the lecturers will guide the class discussions.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The course grade will be based on: class participation (20%), weekly assignments and reflection papers (30%), and the final essay (50%).

Examination topics

Reading list

The literature will be provided on Moodle at the start of the course.

Key introductory texts will include:

Bellucci, Stefano, and Andreas Eckert, eds. General Labour History of Africa. Workers, Employers and Governments, 20th-21st Centuries. Woodbridge: James Currey, 2019.

Eckert, Andreas, ed. Global Histories of Work. Berlin and Boston: de Gruyter, 2016.

Eckert, Andreas, and Marcel van der Linden. “New Perspectives on Workers and the History of Work: Global Labour History.” In Global History, Globally, edited by Sven Beckert and Dominic Sachsenmaier, 145–62. London and Oxford and New York and New Delhi and Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2018.

Van Der Linden, Marcel. “Labour History: The Old, the New and the Global.” African Studies 66, no. 2–3 (2007): 169–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00020180701482636.

Linden, Marcel van der. “The Promise and Challenges of Global Labor History.” In Global Histories of Work, edited by Andreas Eckert. Berlin and Boston: de Gruyter, 2016.

Association in the course directory

SP Globalgeschichte

Last modified: Tu 27.02.2024 12:05