El Dorado in West Africa: The Gold-mining Frontier, African Labor and Colonial Capitalism in the Gold Coast, 1875-1900 (Western African Studies) - Softcover

Dumett, Raymond E.

9780852557686: El Dorado in West Africa: The Gold-mining Frontier, African Labor and Colonial Capitalism in the Gold Coast, 1875-1900 (Western African Studies)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 085255768X ISBN 13: 9780852557686

Publisher: James Currey, 1999

Gold mining occupies a central place in the economic evolution of Ghana. This text examines the period of transition from traditional mining systems to mechanized, capitalized mining companies in the Akan area of the Gold Coast. Looking at the role of African as well as European mining entrepreneurs, female as well as male mining labor, this study encompasses issues of gender, ethnicity, business organization, pressure groups and exploitation. The author seeks to reveal a new complexity in the economic and social history of mining in the late 19th century. In particular he concludes that it is in the individualization of land transfers to mining concessionaires, rather than in the mobilization of a permanent unskilled wage labor force, that the greatest impact on economic and social change can be measured.

"Outstanding Academic Book" American Library Association, 1999 North America: Ohio U Press

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Review:

Dumett convincingly depicts the phenomenon of the African farmer-miner ... adds rare depth to pre-colonial business history. Most concessions failed to realize a return on their subscriber's investments. One of the few successful enterprises, the future Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, was established by three educated middle-class coastal Africans - Donna J. Maier in JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY
... the book deserves the serious attention of all students of Africa... - Nana Arhin Brempong in AFRICAN AFFAIRS
This highly readable book will be appreciated by specialist and nonspecialist readers alike. It is a seminal contribution to the economic and social history of colonial West Africa as well as to the ongoing debate about the impact of European capitalism on African societies. - Katja Werthmann in AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW
It is by far the most deeply researched and analysed study of the origins of any mining industry north of Zimbabwe; unquestionably it is also much the best... This is revisionist history at its best... This excellent book is a triumphant vindication of thorough empiricism. - Richard Rathbone in AFRICA
... a major addition to the growing historiography of Africa... - Simon Katzenellenbogen in BUSINESS HISTORY
...this carefully researched and engaging book... - John Parker in THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW

From the Back Cover:

El Dorado in West Africa explores the first modern gold rush of Ghana in all its dimensions - land, labor, capital, traditional African mining, technology, transport, management, the clash of cultures, and colonial rule. The rich tapestry of events is textured with unexpected ironies and paradoxes. Professor Dumett tells the story of the expatriate-led gold boom of 1875-1900 against the background of colonial capitalism. Through the use of field interviews, he also brings to light the expansion of a parallel "African gold-mining frontier, " which outpaced the expatriate mining sector.

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