Social change in post-war Bulawayo

This paper is split into three parts. The first part is concerned with a description of the type of Capitalist Mode of Production C.M.P. from now on which formed the structure for understanding the type of working class — the main focus of my thesis - that emerged during the period I am interested in. This will enable me to illustrate the contradictions within the dominant classes in order to fully comprehend the development of the particular working class in Southern Rhodesia. This is important simply because the evolution of worker consciousness is a defensive response to capitalist exploitation. The second part of the paper will discuss the evolution of worker consciousness among the urban Africans in Bulawayo throughout the nineteen forties. I have chosen Bulawayo because, in the period of my study, this City, was the main industrial centre in Southern Rhodesia. Not only did this mean that it was here that the majority of Africans were exposed to the most concentrated and rapid capitalist development in the form of manufacturing industry, but *'also that Bulawayo had the. largest proportion of semi-skilled whites. This is an important point when the actions of the local Council are taken into consideration. I would like to make it clear at this point that I, like Goldberg, see worker consciousness as a collective consciousness

A historical chronicling of social change in the then Southern Rhodesia's urban area of Bulawayo in the period following World War 2.