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58798-01 - Lecture: Work and Labour in African History (2 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Work, labor movements, and the experiences of workers have been prominent topics in African History. In recent years, path-breaking research has ensured that some of the insights thus gained found their way into global debates on work and labour, helping to destabilize Eurocentric narratives about the rise of free wage labor under capitalism, biases towards industrial wage work and underlying assumptions about what constitutes “normal” (i.e. formal rather than informal) work. Focussing on the twentieth century, the lecture explores different types of work in African history (agriculture, transport, mining), gendered patterns of work and labor, labourers’ agency, and key transformations of work in the course of the twentieth century. Have Africans moved “from slavery to precariousness”, as eminent labor historian Frederick Cooper has put it? We will explore broad patterns in a global context, but zoom in on examples of work in specific countries and time periods. |
| Bibliography | Frederick Cooper, Von der Sklaverei in die Prekarität? Oldenburg 2019. Stefano Bellucci, Andreas Eckert (eds), General Labour History of Africa. Workers, Employers and Governments, 20th-21st Centuries. Woodbridge 2019. |
| Admission requirements | Für Studierende der Geschichte aller Studienfächer und -stufen, Studierende anderer Studienfächer, Hörer*innen |
| Course application | Belegung via Mona. |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 14.09.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 21.09.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 28.09.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 05.10.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 12.10.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 19.10.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 26.10.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 02.11.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 09.11.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 16.11.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 23.11.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 30.11.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 07.12.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Monday 14.12.2026 | 10.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118 |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Basis Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Modul: Synthese (Master's degree subject: History) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Basics: History (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Societal Conflicts: Inequality, Institutions, Discourse (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Module: Topics and Theories of Social Anthropology (Bachelor's degree subject: Social Anthropology) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |