Eric Allina. Slavery by Any Other Name: African Life under Company Rule in Colonial . Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012. xiii + 255 pp. $49.50, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8139-3272-9.

Reviewed by Todd Cleveland

Published on H-Luso-Africa (March, 2013)

Commissioned by Philip J. Havik (Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT))

Eric Allina’s Slavery by Any Other Name ex‐ lamented the violence if they did at all, while pub‐ amines the history of the Mozambique Company licly denying the existence of coercion, disingenu‐ from its creation in 1892 to the conclusion of its ously reciting ofcial colonial labor policy (versus royal charter in 1942 in the eponymous colony. actual practice “on the ground”), or simply citing While concessionary companies were reasonably the benefts of any formal, indigenous work regi‐ common in ’s African empire, Lisbon men as a key pillar in Lisbon’s broader “civilizing granted the Mozambique Company an exception‐ mission.” al level of sovereignty within the enterprise’s ex‐ Allina fruitfully compares the forced labor pansive domain, which stretched from the Indian regime in place in the Mozambique Company’s Ocean coast to the South Rhodesian (Zimbab‐ territory to a variety of diferent forms of unfree wean) border in the heart of the colony. Host to an or conscripted labor, characterizing this local ex‐ array of industries and private operators, the pression of coercive recruitment and ensuing company “transformed and sustained servile la‐ drudgery as “virtual slavery.” In fact, the corpus bor” by instituting a pervasive forced labor of criticism towards the labor policies in Portu‐ regime to furnish the African workers that these gal’s African colonies has long been accreting, various commercial endeavors required (p. 12). comprised of international and, on rare occasions, The conditions under which these labor con‐ domestic critiques that date back to the end of the scripts toiled were acutely exploitative, and often nineteenth century, an accumulation that Allina inhumane. Company ofcials were not only thoroughly chronicles in the text. Its articulators aware of these oppressive arrangements, but have included abolitionists, missionaries, social were often complicit or even actively involved in activists, politicians, and scholars, among others, engineering them. Yet, like most Portuguese colo‐ and via Slavery by Any Other Name, Allina adds nial administrators, they typically only privately his own voice to this chorus. Allina rightly points H-Net Reviews out that Portugal was not unique in its employ‐ The archive is now housed at Mozambique’s His‐ ment of forced labor, as each of the European im‐ torical Archives (AHM) in Maputo and, from the perial powers instituted analogous regimes of one mid 1990s, has been open for scholarly inquiry. sort or another in their respective territories. An MA thesis from the 1980s by a Mozambican Rather, he suggests that Portugal’s was diferent student refects limited access to these materials, due to “its longevity and its dominance of the but Slavery by Any Other Name is the frst book to colonial economy” (p. 12). In particular, Allina make extensive use of this “long-lost trove” (p. claims that the Mozambique Company developed viii). In his mining of the archive’s constituent ma‐ a system of forced labor “more efcient and ex‐ terials, Allina carefully teases out Africans’ varied tensive than any in Africa” (p. 13). Although the motivations for their noted actions, as well as subjective nature of this claim renders it impossi‐ their shifting objectives and strategies as they en‐ ble to substantiate--a consideration of cases just gaged with the powerful company. As part of the from Portugal’s colony of Angola may well be suf‐ research process, Allina also mined, among other fcient to problematize it--the conviction in the sources, an array of colonial documents housed in statement nonetheless conveys a ruthless model Portugal and Mozambique, while also gathering of labor conscription that remains beyond dis‐ oral testimony to assist with the construction of pute. the narrative. In an attempt to trace the dynamic of “re‐ Allina has also incorporated a series of su‐ sponse and counterresponse,” Allina also traces perb photographs, presumably from the company Africans’ actions and reactions to the Mozam‐ archive, which are featured as a set in the middle bique Company’s forced labor regime, including of the book, rather than periodically embedded in their underlying motivations and objectives, the the text. These images illuminate the working and shifting strategies they employed, and the diver‐ living conditions, as well as the asymmetrical gent degrees of success they enjoyed. Although in‐ racial relations, that predominated in the Mozam‐ digenous men constituted the primary targets bique Company’s territory. Maps in the introduc‐ (and victims) of this forced labor scheme, Allina tion are useful in geographically situating the also considers the plights of African youth and reader and also provide a spatial understanding women, who often found themselves similarly of the events and developments that appear in the toiling as conscripted workers. In exploring the narrative. creative responses of men, women, and children The book features a series of chapters that to this crushing labor regime--strategic reactions are topically arranged, although within each of that Allina suggests fell somewhere between them a loose diachronic order can readily be dis‐ “thralldom and (open) resistance”--he highlights cerned. Chapter 1 considers the genesis of Por‐ the limits of colonial/corporate power, but also its tuguese rule in Mozambique, the origins and es‐ signifcant reach (p. 16). tablishment of the , the justif‐ Allina draws heavily on the Mozambique cation for and implementation of the forced labor Company’s own “long-lost” archive to reconstruct system, and the ways that this scheme brutally ex‐ this story. Though the whereabouts of this invalu‐ ploited those Africans it ensnared. Chapter 2 able collection of reports, documents, and corre‐ widens and deepens the discussion of the forced spondence was for some time unknown, the ar‐ labor system in the charter territory, including the chive was eventually located in a rudimentary ways in which its application was signifcantly repository in Beira, the coastal city that formerly more violent and cynical than even the Por‐ served as the site for the company’s headquarters. tuguese colonial ofcials who devised and sanc‐

2 H-Net Reviews tioned abusive labor policies in the colonies in‐ ing gender and generational relations and the tended it to be. Allina provides examples of local ways that individuals who occupied more secure company ofcials stationed on the ground who social positions, e.g., adult and elderly men, “were urged caution and moderation, even as they un‐ less subject to principles of reciprocity, based on finchingly supported the forced labor regime, but norms of mutual obligation, and could at times ig‐ these sentiments were predictably muted by oth‐ nore them impunity” (p. 125). In this new power ers who were unconcerned with the immediate or confguration, African women and youth had few‐ long-term impact of extreme coercion. Chapter 3 er opportunities for remunerated labor and, thus, taps the international and local debate regarding declining social prospects. Chapter 7 once again this form of “modern slavery,” and also explores highlights the discrepancy between company poli‐ the ways that both the Portuguese state, in all its cy and practice, in this case regarding African res‐ variations, and the Mozambique Company were idents’ ability to freely choose their employer. Not able to weather recurring, if somewhat sporadic, surprisingly, the Mozambique Company aggres‐ criticism by invoking the moralistic “civilizing sively circumscribed this alleged liberty, though mission.” Allina also includes mention of Africans’ Allina also establishes that many Africans outma‐ protests and their articulation of grievances, neuvered the charter company by deserting and though these strategic undertakings had minimal then reappearing elsewhere as “voluntary work‐ impact and were, in practice, riskier than they ers” (voluntários), or by traveling to were potentially efcacious. Chapter 4 traces a to secure employment on the mines. Chapter 8 of‐ more efective pattern of noncompliance: mobili‐ fers a fascinating account of successful African ty. This strategy took many diferent forms, in‐ farmers and their emergence as an indigenous cluding the relocation of entire villages, as well as elite in the charter territory. Perhaps the most in‐ individuals, ahead of labor recruiters. Often teresting facet of this history is the facilitating times, this act took Mozambicans across the proxi‐ role that wives played in these elite men’s ascen‐ mate South Rhodesian border, but in many other sion. Regardless, Allina soberly reminds us that cases, as far away as the South African mines. To race trumped all other considerations and, thus, help stem this exodus, the Mozambique Company no matter how “European” these Africans acted resorted to extreme violence and, when coupled or dressed, they could not escape Portuguese set‐ with its local consolidation of power, Allina indi‐ tlers’ racist angst, jealousy, and violence. Finally, a cates that, eventually, “mobility remained but a conclusion briefy considers the decades follow‐ vestige of individual sovereignty” (p. 104). Corre‐ ing the conclusion of the charter in 1942 and the spondingly, most residents newly resigned them‐ consequent absorption of the Mozambique Com‐ selves to some type of engagement with the com‐ pany’s managerial apparatus into the colonial pany. Chapter 5 considers the ways that the regime, which ultimately ushers the reader into Mozambique Company co-opted regional chiefs, the postcolonial period. forcing them to participate in the forced labor Allina’s narrative evinces a gifted writer, one regime or else forfeit whatever (nominal) power capable of turning a phrase while also crafting that they still possessed. These somewhat sympa‐ solid, functional paragraphs that keep the narra‐ thetic fgures had little choice but to cooperate; if tive moving forward and that fow seamlessly into they demonstrated anything less than enthusiastic one another. Although the book occasionally fea‐ support, the company immediately turned on tures unwieldy sentences (e.g., spanning seven or them. Chapter 6 traces the disruptive impact that more lines of text), these passages are only con‐ colonialism and the labor regime had on local spicuous due to their infrequency. In general, Alli‐ African society, including the distortion of exist‐ na’s prose is straightforward, making for a pleas‐

3 H-Net Reviews ant, enjoyable read, and he deftly weaves the perience of forced labor in Mozambique was not-- prodigious data he has collected into the narra‐ namely, “fundamentally diferent from that which tive. What he has produced is a text rich in de‐ had prevailed elsewhere in colonial Africa” (p. scription that brings this often unsettling history 12). It is unclear, therefore, what, specifcally, Alli‐ alive and, ultimately, ofers us nothing less than na is arguing that will substantively alter existing the frst detailed history of central Mozambique understandings of, or open up new ways of think‐ from the end of the nineteenth century through ing about, Africa’s past. Consequently, it is impos‐ the frst half of the twentieth. sible to assess the book’s cogency; without clearly Slavery by Any Other Name is at its best when defned analytical and historiographical objec‐ Allina is forging compelling linkages and connec‐ tives, an evaluation of this nature is precluded. tions between the local application of forced labor For all of the rich reconstruction Allina afords us, in the Mozambique Company’s territory and the and the attendant knowledge generated, it is hard shifting international discourse surrounding slav‐ to determine how this book moves the feld signif‐ ery, abolition, colonialism, labor, (im)morality, icantly forward. and modernity. While drawing important distinc‐ In part, this may be an issue of audience. tions between diferent formulations of bonded While a text intended for an undergraduate or labor, Allina situates the company’s particular even a general audience need not belabor or even brand of forced labor in this broader context and showcase its analytical and historiographical con‐ demonstrates how local labor policy was infu‐ tributions, the level of sophistication in Allina’s enced by this international debate, but also how it prose, the extensive, original research conducted, both fed and reinforced the sentiments of those the copious details provided and, fnally, the pitch who were at the center of this multi-continental of other books in the series, collectively suggest discussion. In other words, this interplay provides that the book is intended for a scholarly audience. an important historical example of the global Perhaps an editor’s note would have helped clari‐ shaping the local, and vice versa. Perhaps most fy and thereby signal the book’s ideal/intended de‐ importantly, Allina shows how even those inter‐ ployment? national bodies with the mandate to curb or, Three key adjustments to the book’s organiza‐ eventually, stamp out forced labor, were riddled tion would also have enhanced the text. First, the with a lingering racism that warped the way(s) introduction concludes without a chapter outline, that they framed the “labor question” and led so each successive chapter comes as somewhat of them to confrm rather than condemn what were a surprise to the reader and often features only obvious, egregious examples of exploitation. minimal (logical) linkages to the proceeding one, For all of Slavery by Any Other Name’s myri‐ and vice versa. This efect is exacerbated because ad virtues, one can’t help but feel that it could the chapters are topical, rather than chronologi‐ have been an even better book. The frst issue the cal, so the reader moves rather blindly through reader encounters is the absence of a central, or‐ the narrative jumping from topic to another with ganizing argument (or arguments). I read the in‐ little, or no, forewarning. Second, because the troduction twice, but each time, though having book doesn’t feature a central, organizing argu‐ been treated to an interesting, concise discussion, ment that is (re-)referenced in the ensuing chap‐ was unable to identify an overarching contention ters and since the organizational logic is never re‐ that the ensuing chapters would serve to bolster. vealed to the reader via an initial chapter outline, In fact, the only time Allina makes an explicit ar‐ the way that the story is intended to be framed re‐ gument, it is merely to assert what the African ex‐ mains unclear. And, third, the chapter lengths are

4 H-Net Reviews uneven, suggesting a glut of data in some areas this history, it is unfortunate that Allina elected to and a paucity in others, which grants the narra‐ rely exclusively on archival material to recon‐ tive an uneven, unbalanced quality. struct this dimension of the story. Of course, given Finally, a more thorough engagement with that the terminal temporal parameter of the study the oral evidence would greatly enhance the is 1942, the author’s reliance on archival sources study. While both the author and the book jacket is entirely understandable, but the allegedly im‐ boast of “more than one hundred interviews,” Al‐ portant body of oral evidence that Allina collected lina never critically engages with this oral evi‐ is, at worst, underused, and, at best, overstated. dence, even if only to identify basic mnemonic Notwithstanding the issues outlined above, challenges associated with interviewing individu‐ Slavery by Any Other Name makes important con‐ als about events that occurred at least ffty-fve tributions to understandings of: the Portuguese years earlier. Instead, the reader learns only that colonial project; imperial justifcations and opera‐ some interviews were conducted one-on-one, tions; forced labor regimes; the shifting (evolv‐ while others were done in groups, and that the ing?) international discourse regarding slavery, author was concerned about inadvertently repro‐ colonialism and indigenous labor; and the ways ducing colonial-era relationships by posing a that Africans responded to oppressive conditions question related to age that prompted informants in the colonial past. For the casual reader, Allina to produce their identifcation cards, reminiscent exposes a ghastly, almost certainly unknown his‐ of colonial ofcials demanding Africans’ pass tory through his carefully researched study, akin cards. Allina also informs us that he assured in‐ to Adam Hochschild’s accomplishment via King formants that their identities would be kept conf‐ Leopold’s Ghost (1998). Students of both European dential, which is a common enough scholarly imperial and African history will appreciate the practice under certain circumstances, but neglects action-reaction dynamic that featured within the to tell the reader why it was necessary in this Mozambique Company’s charter and the ways case, thereby raising the question. An explication that events and developments on the ground would surely ofer interesting insights into con‐ shaped colonial/corporate policy, and vice versa. temporary power dynamics and historical memo‐ Finally, scholars of Lusophone Africa will be ry in Mozambique--the presumable reasons for grateful that Allina has at last colored in a hereto‐ withholding the informants’ names. Even more fore reasonably blank geographical and temporal importantly, though, the anonymity renders the space in Mozambique’s past. However, these same African voice in the narrative even more inaudi‐ readers may also lament the fact that the book ble than it already is, as oral testimony barely fea‐ does not do more to deliver on the promise of its tures in the text. A scan of the footnotes section parent series’ title: Reconsiderations in Southern reveals that only roughly thirty-fve, out of more African History. Despite the book’s considerable than a thousand notes, have either a direct or in‐ edifcatory value, its modest historiographical am‐ direct link to the oral evidence gathered. Given bitions fail to prompt a serious “reconsideration” the scarcity of African voices in the text, the of current, widely accepted concepts and under‐ anonymity of the informants exacerbates their in‐ standings of Africa’s past, even as it undeniably defniteness--in sharp contrast to the many Por‐ deepens them. To be sure, it is not clear that was, tuguese who feature so prominently in the narra‐ in fact, Allina’s aim; moreover, upon fnal review, tive, some of whom we come to “know” reason‐ the book’s multitudinous strengths and realized ably well. In fact, interviews with former ofcials contributions far outweigh its relatively scarcer of the Mozambique Company would have been potentialities. greatly welcomed: with the charter at the heart of

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Citation: Todd Cleveland. Review of Allina, Eric. Slavery by Any Other Name: African Life under Company Rule in Colonial Mozambique. H-Luso-Africa, H-Net Reviews. March, 2013.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38359

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