La carga sobre la espalda. Trabajadores africanos en el puerto de comercio de Dakar, 1910-1949

Abstract

Port workers (dockers) have played a distinguished role as active members of port communities. In Dakar, the nature and characteristics of Labor were conditioned by the Institutional regulations that supported the Colonial system. It affected the Labor market and exerted influence on wages, regulations and the living conditions of the African workers. The analysis of port Labor in Dakar shows the socio-economic transformations caused by the resolute introduction of industrial capitalism in West Africa from the last decades of the nineteenth century. This paper analyzes the labor organization in the port of Dakar and its connections with the economic Globalization process. It explains too how the colonial Institutional structure impacted on the purchasing power of these workers, showing the effects on their living conditions.