In previous posts I have written of the close association between Ruskin College, the South African liberation movement, and also those books that had a great influence on me during my time as a student at the College.
Whilst the original edition in 1990 came in for some relatively negative critique (like this from Ian Hunter: http://tinyurl.com/ht5d3d7, Yours for the Union: Class and Community Struggles in South Africa is still recognised as a critically important text in placing in historical context the inability of the black South African left to overcome internal division.
As the promotional Zed text states:
Yours for the Union stands as a landmark history of the making of the black working class in South Africa. Drawing on a wide range of sources, it covers the crucial period of 1930–47, when South Africa's rapid industrialisation led to the dramatic growth of the working class, and uncontrolled urbanisation resulted in vast shanty towns which became a focal point for resistance and protest. Importantly, Hirson was one of the first historians to go beyond the traditional focus on the mines and factory workplaces, broadening his account to include the lesser known community struggles of the urban ghettoes and rural reserves.
I came across Hirson's book not long after I had read key chapters of Ron Ramdin's The Making of the Black Working Class in Britain. Taken together both books provide a powerful insight upon the processes of radicalisation of economically/politically marginalised groups - not least when a key driver for that marginalisation is racism.
You can still get hold of the original (1990) version of Hirson's book, and although weighty in parts, is essential reading for those interested in working class formation and political mobilisation.
For those with feedback/comments on Hirson or Ramdin please post a reply.
In Solidarity
Ian
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