Our precious metal: African labour in South Africa's gold industry, 1970-1990

by Wilmot G. James

"[James] elegantly charts the ways in which the labor framework of apartheid’s central economic institution were re-shaped." —International Journal of African Historical Studies "... carefully argued and perceptive... " —History This sociological and historical study of African mine workers is the first major account in twenty years of labor in South Africa’s gold industry. In his lucid and original analysis, James traces the interlocking developments which have brought about a transformation of that industry and relates these to wider processes of change in contemporary South Africa. "... a much-welcomed study... the book readily serves as a broader account of the processes by which African workers acquired power in the labor framework in the 1980's." —Choice

Paperback

First published May 22, 1992