Labour and beer in the Transkei, South Africa: Xhosa 'work parties' in historical and institutional perspective

* Patrick McAllister, visiting fellow at the African Studies Centre (ASC).

Co-operative work in Africa is frequently concluded with festivities at which the consumption of beer or other alcohol is prominent. Using ethnography from South Africa's Transkei, the paper suggests that these festivities, neglected in the literature, need to be analyzed for a proper understanding of co-operative work. Combining attention to aspects of both production and consumption with an analysis of the historical development of co-operative work enables one to account for the variety of forms which co-operative work takes and their relationship with each other as well as with rural Xhosa social life in general. It is suggested that the analysis of the festive aspects of work parties allows for a particular perspective on the nature of the reciprocity associated with co-operative work and that this raises critical questions about the usefulness of the conventional typology of work parties in Africa in terms of the dichotomy between 'exchange labour' and 'festive labour'.