This thesis examined the evolution and transition of agrarian labour relations in the
aftermath of Zimbabwe‘s radical land redistribution, which reconfigured the agrarian
structure in terms of landholdings, production practices and labour markets from
2000. Despite the importance of agrarian labour as source of livelihood for the largely
countryside based population, insufficient academic attention has been paid to its
evolution following the land reforms. Specifically, the issues overlooked relate to the
mobilisation, organisation and utilisation of wage and non-wage labour against
background of the changed land ownership patterns, agrarian policies and macroeconomic
conditions.
Historical-structural approaches rooted in Marxist Political Economy informed the
analysis of the new agrarian labour relations since in former Settler colonies such as
Zimbabwe these were based on a historical context of specific land-labour utilisation
relations created by land dispossession and discriminatory agrarian policies during the
colonial and immediate independence period. Beyond this, gender issues, intrahousehold
relations, kinship, citizenship and the agency of the workers were taken
into account to understand the trajectory of labour relations.
Detailed quantitative and qualitative empirical research in Goromonzi and Kwekwe
districts, as well as from other sources demonstrated that a new agrarian labour
regime had evolved to replace the predominant wage labour in former large-scale
commercial farms. There has been a growth in the use of self-employed family farm
labour alongside the differentiated use of wage labour in farming and other non-farm
activities. Inequitable gender and generational tendencies were evident in the new
agrarian labour regime. The new labour relations are marked by the exploitation of
farm workers through wages that are below the cost of social reproduction, insecure
forms of employment and poor working conditions, while their individual and
collective worker agency is yet to reverse their poor socio-economic conditions.
Various policy interventions to protect their land and labour rights are thus required.
The study shed light on the conceptual understanding of agrarian labour relations in
former Settler economies, including the role of land reforms in the development of employment, and how the peasantry with enlarged land access are reconstituted
through repeasantisation and semi-proletarianisation processes. / Public Administration and Management / D. P. A.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27744 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Chambati, Walter S. S. |
| Contributors | Mogale, Mathukhu Thomas, Kahn, Sinval |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 1 online resource (xix, 572 leaves) : illustrations, application/pdf |
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