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Bittersweet Harvest

Children, work and the global march against child labour in the post-apartheid state

Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

This article explores recent transformations in child labour legislation in the wake of rapid democratic political change in South Africa. It reflects on working children’s agency and their defence of their rights to work, drawing on ethnographic research in the wine lands of the Western Cape Province. The article argues that recent anti-child labour campaigns in South Africa fail to provide economic solutions for destitute black and coloured children who depend on remunerated vineyard work to sustain household economies. It contends that international legislation prohibiting child labour is myopic because it ignores the key role that children play in the global flexible labour market and, by disaggregating child from adult exploitation, perpetuates the economic conditions which give rise to child labour.

Key Words: child labour • children’s agency • democracy • flexible labour • household economy • race • South Africa

Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 19, No. 2, 139-155 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0308275X9901900201


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