African Labour Studies

Mohammad Amir Anwar is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. He is co-author of The Digital Continent: Placing African in the Planetary Networks of Work (Oxford University Press, 2022).Hannah J. Dawson is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Anthropology and Development Studies Department at the University of Johannesburg. She is author of Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins (Wits University Press, 2025)Nelson Oppong is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, and a Senior Research Associate in Sociology at Rhodes University. His work brings together interdisciplinary research and extensive policy engagement on international development, governance, human rights, extractive industries, environmental change, and political economy across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

• Introduction: Why African Labour Studies? - Amir Anwar and Hannah DawsonPart 1: Historical Foundations of African Labour Studies1. Revisiting Labour Process and Contributions - Bridget Kenney 2. Overalls and Gowns in the Making of South Africa’s Labour Studies: Between Theory and Praxis - Ari Sitas3. African Contribution to the Power Resources Approach: A Critical Appraisal - Andries BezuidenuitPart 2: Sectoral Dynamics4. Contract Farming and Wage Labour in Horticulture Industry in Eastern Africa - Fabio De Blasis5. Agricultural Labour in Western Africa: Farm Relations and Working Conditions - Akua Britwum6. Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour Market Dynamics in Nigeria - Oluyemi T. Adeosun7. Large-scale Infrastructure Projects and Labour in Urban Africa - Ilda LindellPart 3: Labour Markets8. African Migrants and Disapora's Subjectivities in Labour Markets - Thabani Mutambashere9. Class Dynamics and Informal Work in Sierra Leone - Joshua Mcdermott10. Poverty and Income Distributions in South African Labour Markets - David Francis and Siphelele Ngidi11. Labour Relations in the Post-Conflict Settings: Experiences of DRC - Saint José InakaPart 4: Youth and Gender12. Youth Living in Precarity: A Case of South Africa - Simbarashe Gurukume13. Refusing Low Wage Jobs and the Contested Meanings of Work in urban South Africa - Hannah Dawson14. Gender Dynamics in Sudanese Labour Markets - Mayada Hassanain15. Children of Domestic Workers in South Africa - Quraisha Dawood16. Women's Livelihood Experience in Rural Zimbabwe - Patience MutopoPart 5: Labour Movements17. History of Ethiopian Labour Movements - Samuel Andreas Admasie18. Gig Worker Labour Movements in South Africa - Crispen Chinguno19. Labour Agency among Informal Workers in Africa - Ilda LindellPart 6: Contemporary Developments and Future of Work 20. Platform Economy and Working Conditions in Africa - Fikile Masikane21. Case for Universal Basic Income and Its Intersection with Informal Economies - Kelle Howson22. Mining and Future of Job Creation Quagmire in Africa - Nelson OppongConclusions: African Work Futures - Amir Anwar and Hannah Dawson