From Forced to Voluntary Labour in Rural Africa: The Transition to Paid Voluntary Labour on the Roads of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast

Article Article scientifique Article From Forced to Voluntary Labour in Rural Africa: The Transition to Paid Voluntary Labour on the Roads of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast eng 2022-09-29 2023-08 author Pont Chafer Maria José 0000-0001-6884-8284 990193 Département d'histoire générale (ISTG1) 205-231 10.1017/s0020859022000657 0020-8590 Forced labour was central to the provision of public infrastructure in African colonies. Whereas current historiography focuses on the role of external drivers, such as humanitarian organizations or the Forced Labour Convention of 1930, in triggering change, no attention has been paid to the local initiatives that contributed to the end of forced labour. This article explores the transition to paid voluntary labour in the context of road building and maintenance in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, a region where incentives to resort to compulsion were very high due to the lack of alternative sources of revenue to finance public works. The article shows that movements away from forced labour were shaped by local conditions, and rural populations played a crucial part in the shifts in labour relations. Dewey 900 90 Département d'histoire générale 3H false International review of social history 68 2 1ef1660d-4343-4137-a9cb-fa581dad368d Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 444342 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 284b7f511bf88b2c0479bc7aceb50e824f2ba707181a9c4b39bd5ff7453c5199 openAccess Faculté des lettres / Département d'histoire générale

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From Forced to Voluntary Labour in Rural Africa: The Transition to Paid Voluntary Labour on the Roads of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast	International review of social history			2023	4	91

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Pont Chafer, Maria José