A considerable body of literature already exists on the Northern Rhodesian Copperbelt during the colonial period, most of which centers on the two copper companies that dominate the Copperbelt, and their relationship with the Northern Rhodesian government and the British empire. For the most part, the Africans who labored in the copper industry have been seen as pawns in a larger game. Improvements in working conditions and even labor organization have been largely credited to benevolent outside forces rather than the efforts of the workers themselves. Preoccupied with the ethnic ties and partial proletarianization of the African miners, scholars have for the most part rejected the existence of an African working class on the Copperbelt during the colonial period. While agreeing that the Copperbelt miners never became a working class in the classic Marxist tradition, a more processual approach to class consciousness and action reveals the gradual emergence among the African mineworkers of a common identity and unity of purpose based on class lines. This book will examine this development in order to better understand the impact of industrial labor on a group of African workers and the role they played in the class struggles of the period.
The research for this book has taken me to three continents, numerous archives, and many individuals. The mines have generously permitted me to examine their excellent records. I found important data at the Copper Industry Services Bureau, formerly the Northern Rhodesian Chamber of Mines, and the Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines, Centralised Services Division Technical Library, both in Kitwe, the Rhodesian Selection Trust archives at the Central Services Division in Ndola, as well as records in the personnel offices at Rhokana, Roan Antelope and Mufulira mines. Personnel at all the mines were uniformly helpful and supportive, but I owe a special debt of thanks to the intrepid archivist at Central Services Division in Ndola, James Moore. I also examined government records pertaining to the mines at the Zambian National Archives and the Public Records Office in London. The Rhodes House Collection in Oxford provided several useful documents, as did the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. I examined records of the United Missions in the Copperbelt at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, the Methodist Missionary Society Archives in London, and the Mindolo Ecumenical Center in Kitwe. Small collections in Zambia, particularly the University of Zambia Special Collections, the Institute for African Studies, UNIP headquarters, and the Zambian Mineworkers’ Union headquarters in Kitwe, produced various pieces of useful data. A. L. Epstein and J. Clyde Mitchell’s data from 1950s Copperbelt surveys were particularly helpful. Both scholars graciously permitted me to examine these records during a recent visit to England.
Numerous informants in England, Zambia, South Africa, and America gave generously of their time and memories, and this study could never have been completed without them. Most miners interviewed had been early trade union leaders, staff association members, or employees in personnel departments. The interviews investigated African attitudes and communication systems in the mines, matters rarely discussed in the records. Corporate officials were interviewed to check information against written documentation and to clarify corporate attitudes and policies. A number of very busy executives spoke to me at length. Former employees in the African personnel department also added their unique perspective to this study. Several former labor officers explained how they mediated conflicts between the miners, government, and/or company demands. Their experiences added an important dimension to this study. A few members of the United Missions in the Copperbelt also provided important first-hand information of the mine townships.
Participant observation supplemented written and oral data. During my field work on the Copperbelt, daily observation provided a “feel” for life on the mines. Tours underground and in the mine compounds sharpened the impact of written records. During periods at each mine, research at the old personnel department centers allowed the researcher to observe daily routine. Many changes have occurred since the colonial period, but much of the general ambience remains the same. One could almost feel the presence of the old compound managers lurking in the background. These observations profoundly affected the conclusions of this study.
I am indebted to many people and institutions for help in the preparation of this study, but particularly to the Copper Industry Services Bureau and the Rhodesian Consolidated Mines, Central Services Division. In Zambia, the staff at the Institute for African Studies deserves a special thanks for their support, both for myself and for my two children. Professors Sara Berry, Robert Rotberg, Steve Baier, Frederick Johnstone, Sharon Stichter, Fred Cooper and Robin Fincham read the manuscript at various stages and provided crucial advice and support. Numerous other friends and scholars contributed much needed counsel and succor during the many years this manuscript has been in progress. Bruce Laurie and Temple University Press deserve a special thanks, as do my daughters, Lee and Laura, for their patience with an often impatient mother, Cathy Conrad, for her excellent typing, and Tim Shaw, for making life more worthwhile.