Gender and class in the tea estates of Cameroon

This book focuses on the consciousness and action of female plantation workers in Cameroon. Two tea estates were selected for in-depth research. The main body of the work is comprised of two parts, both of which try to come to terms with the consciousness and action of respectively female workers at the Tole Tea Estate (South West Province) and male workers at the Ndu Tea Estate (North West Province). In both parts the author first describes the main characteristics of the labour force, its control and exploitation in the labour process, and other variables, such as gender issues and relations with birthplace, which may have some effect on worker consciousness. Next, the various forms of workers' actions, in particular informal, collective and trade union actions, are examined. In the final chapter, female and male workers' consciousness and action are compared. The study is based on several, longer and shorter, fieldwork periods in Cameroon during the period 1985-1991