Editorial

Notebooks The Journal for Studies on Power, vol. 2, pp. 115–120

Abstract

This issue of Notebooks comprises three research articles, a commentary and two book reviews.The themes are diverse but, of course, they all relate to the understanding of how power is exercised and achieved.The interdisciplinary nature of Notebooks is reflected in the topics in this issue: Ibrahim Abdullah writes about child labour in capitalist Africa, from colonialism to the present; Praveen Jha on labour exploitation in the Global South via the creation of labour reserves; Alberto Simonetti on Gramsci's work and his opposition to the romantic, conservative and nationalistic idea of 'heroism' in contemporary societies; and Willem van Schendel's commentary article discusses the role of non-human labour and the reconceptualisation of labour as a historical category.Three articles in this issue are about labour studies and labour history.The article on child labour, by Ibrahim Abdullah, contains a criticism of the power structures that regulate the way in which labour is exploited and defined by mainstream colonial institutions and international organisations in Africa.According to the author, a mainstream view of child labour in Africa implies a top-down, 'problem-solving' and managerial approach to the understanding of the issue.This because the general predisposition of the rich world towards Africa is to solve its problems.For example, a main criticism contained in the article is that non-governmental organisations and the United Nations (the so-called international community) produce a regulatory system that enforces hegemonic ideas and ideologies based on Western liberal and capitalist models.These models do not challenge capitalism, which, the article alleges, is the cause of labour exploitation, including that of children.The capitalist mode of production and profit seeking see labour as a commodity like any other, and it does not distinguish between a child or an adult worker.The article explains how the hegemonic aid and cooperation discourse on Africa often leads to abolitionist and 'regulationist' attitudes that are problematic to say the least.The way in which child labour has been dealt with, from a Western hegemonic point of view, obviously implied a redefinition of the 'child' in Africa.

Authors 1

1. Stefano Bellucci corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University · International Institute of Social History

   Affiliation as printed

   International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

   Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands