ECAS 2009
3rd European Conference on African Studies
Leipzig, 4 to 7 June 2009

Panel 46: From Porters and Canoe-men to Busboys and Railwaymen, towards a social history of Labour and Transport in Africa (Jan-Bart Gewald)

Panel Organiser: Jan-Bart Gewald

Labour and transport are integrally connected in Africa. For a wide variety of reasons the bulk of transport in Africa, prior to the introduction of motorised transport in the early 1900s, was conveyed by human labour. It is the intention of this proposal to initiate a new appraisal of the relationship between labour and transport in Africa from the 1700s through to the present.