Contribution short abstract:

This paper examines the continuity and transformation of exploitative labor practices in South African gold mining after slavery. It analyzes the coercion of African laborers, the recruitment of Chinese laborers under global capitalist pressures, and how labor systems justified inequality as reform.

Contribution long abstract:

This paper examines the continuity and transformation of exploitative labor practices in South African gold mining, focusing on how legal frameworks and state policies justified these systems under the guise of efficiency and development. Following the abolition of slavery, colonial economies restructured labor systems to sustain capitalist extraction, compelling African laborers to work under conditions that perpetuated racial and economic hierarchies. These coercive systems evolved as mine owners, perceiving inefficiencies in African labor, turned to Chinese indentured laborers, a shift that not only reshaped labor practices but also reinforced racial hierarchies and systems of exclusion. This transition reflected broader global capitalist pressures to secure cheap, controllable labor for industrial and economic demands. By situating the recruitment of Chinese laborers within these local and global dynamics, the paper reveals how colonial economies adapted labor systems to maintain dominance in resource extraction while masking exploitation through reforms framed as progressive. It further examines how mechanisms developed to control Chinese laborers influenced subsequent policies affecting African laborers, illustrating the interconnectedness of global and local labor systems. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to understanding coerced labor within global racial capitalism, emphasizing how post-emancipation labor practices in South African mining exemplify the adaptation of colonial economies to global economic demands while perpetuating inequality under the pretense of reform.