Labour scarcity and colonial labour strategies (and the Africans’ response) in German East Africa, 1885–1914
The worldwide history of labour has recently garnered heightened interest, examining previously overlooked areas of employment and the key figures in labour. However, some facets of labour in colonial German East Africa remain obscure. This paper discusses labour demand, Africans’ responses, and the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2522893 |
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| Summary: | The worldwide history of labour has recently garnered heightened interest, examining previously overlooked areas of employment and the key figures in labour. However, some facets of labour in colonial German East Africa remain obscure. This paper discusses labour demand, Africans’ responses, and the changing mobilization strategies in German East Africa, 1885–1914. With evidence from existing literature and a collection of primary historical sources, this paper argues that German labour mobilization strategies were informed by their unrealistic theories of readily available African labour in large numbers to serve in colonial enterprises. On the contrary, there was a persistent labour problem due to Africans’ reluctance to work for them. Unexpected African responses to labour questions influenced the changing nature of colonial labour organization strategies. Hence, the plans range from economic and political strategy to coercive means. The paper concludes that, despite the strategies to ensure labour availability, the labour question continued to be the field where the most significant interests of the colonizers and the colonized confronted one another throughout German rule in Tanganyika. |
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| ISSN: | 2331-1983 |