LIBERTY OR DEATH - WORKING-CLASS AGITATION AND THE LABOR QUESTION IN COLONIAL FREETOWN, 1938-1939

This article examines the labour disturbances which occurred in Freeto wn, Sierra Leone (Figure 1), between 1938 and 1939. Contrary to the pr evailing interpretation that the colonial state in Africa was faced wi th an alternative of either forcefully pushing the working class out o f the city or moving towards some form of corporatism, this article ar gues that such an option was only feasible in situations where labour was relatively quiescent or where a casual labour problem existed. In Freetown, where a stable labour force existed, the choice was between accepting a militant labour movement over whom officials had little or no control, or creating a labour movement that would eschew militant protest and follow the path dictated from above. The existence of a mi litant organization committed to continous agitation and the use of st rike weapons to force employers to acknowledge the presence of a worki ng class were critical factors in shaping official response to labour disturbances in the British colonies.