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| Semester | fall semester 2021 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Kai Florian Herzog (kai.herzog@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Africans’ working lives changed profoundly during the nineteenth century. Among other core developments, southern Africa’s pastoral economies suffered under the growing pressure of expanding settler states and economies, jeopardizing the livelihoods of countless households and families. Emancipation from slavery came into effect in 1838 in today’s South Africa, but a growing number of Africans was induced to take up waged labour for private employers such as colonial farmers in in the decades to come. While labouring on farms as household servants, cattle herders, or shepherds was indeed part of a conscious livelihood strategy, Africans’ access to land and livestock – and with it the possibility of making their own choices – increasingly diminished. The course focuses on pastoralism and farm labour in the wake of settler colonisation in southern Africa during the nineteenth century, especially in today’s South Africa and Namibia. Next to tracing and discussing the (violent) establishment of settler colonialism and how it transformed the region’s social and economic landscape, we will engage with a range of topics and themes. These include different forms of ‘free’ and unfree labour such as waged and indentured labour as well as labourers’ working experiences and the oftentimes violent working conditions they had to endure on farms. Moreover, we will discuss labour practices such as the breeding and herding of livestock and their social, cultural, and economic meaning, next to different and conflicting views on labour – and conceptions of ‘race,’ gender, class, and age that shaped them. A central aim of the course is to teach students how to approach a historical topic with the tools of historians. Another one is the work with historical sources: throughout the semester, we will look at and interpret a broad variety of sources, including criminal records, colonial legislation, oral traditions, government reports, and folktales. Students will thereby acquire skills essential for critically engaging with Africa’s colonial history, and the past more generally. And by tapping into the history of pastoralism, farm labour, and settler colonialism, students will not only gain insights into these specific themes, but also into the broader social and labour history of southern Africa in the nineteenth century. The course will be held in English, but we can switch to German at any time. |
| Bibliography | Bollig, Michael, and Jan-Bart Gewald. “People, Cattle and Land – Transformations of Pastoral Society.” In People, Cattle and Land: Transformations of a Pastoral Society in Southwestern Africa, edited by Michael Bollig and Jan-Bart Gewald, 3-52. Köln: Köppe, 2009. Cavanagh, Edward, and Lorenzo Veracini, eds. The Routledge Handbook of the History of Settler Colonialism. Abingdon: Routledge, 2017. Dooling, Wayne. Slavery, Emancipation and Colonial Rule in South Africa. Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007. Henrichsen, Dag. “‘Damara’ Labour Recruitment to the Cape Colony and Marginalisation and Hegemony in Late 19th Century Namibia.” Journal of Namibian Studies 3 (2008): 63-82. |
| Comments | Teilnehmerzahl ist begrenzt. Verfügbarkeit je nach Betriebskonzept und Bestuhlung im Herbst 2021. |
| Admission requirements | Studierende der Geschichte aller Studienstufen sowie Studierende anderer Studienfächer, in deren Module die Übung verknüpft ist. Bei Überbelegung wird die Teilnehmerzahl beschränkt. In diesem Fall werden Studierende der Geschichte bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 2 |
| Modules |
Electives Bachelor History: Recommendations (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Basics: History (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Ethnographien (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Fields: Environment and Development (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Wahlbereich Master Geschichte: Empfehlungen (Master's degree subject: History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Aktive Teilnahme. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |