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Minors in Name Only: Child Laborers on the Diamond Mines of the Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang), 1917-1975

2009; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 35; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0363199009348373

1552-5473

Todd Cleveland,

African studies and sociopolitical issues

Although African men and women comprised the vast majority of the labor force on Angola’s colonial-era diamond mines, child laborers, or “minors,” also played important roles, primarily as mineworkers and plantation laborers. While these young male and female laborers’ daily tasks were often lighter than those assigned to adult males, they often worked side-by-side with more senior workers and were equally subject to physical abuse, poor rations, and injuries. Similarly, minors also employed many of the same strategies as their more senior coworkers to better their lives. Their experiences suggest that these young laborers were minors in name only.