Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Index/Abstracts
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
African Economic History
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
African Economic History

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Index/Abstracts
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Visit uwp on Facebook
Research ArticleArticle

Virtual Abolition

The Economic Lattice of Luwalo Forced Labor in the Uganda Protectorate

OPOLOT OKIA
African Economic History, January 2017, 45 (2) 54-84; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/aeh.45.2.54
OPOLOT OKIA
Opolot Okia is an Associate Professor of African History at Wright State University and was a Fulbright Scholar at Makerere University in Uganda for the 2016–17 academic year. His research covers forced labor in British East Africa. He has published several articles and a book, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Luwalo was a type of “traditional,” unpaid forced labor used during the colonial period in the Uganda Protectorate until the mid-1940s. After the passage of the International Labour Organization’s Forced Labor Convention in 1930, the British Colonial Office put pressure on the various colonial administrations to phase out forced labor. In Uganda the administration eventually abolished luwalo. With the looming prospect of abolition, the administration was forced to assess the monetary value of luwalo to better determine the scale of a new tax that would replace the labor. This paper examines this episode of forced labor abolition in the Uganda Protectorate to highlight two points regarding the use of unpaid traditional forced labor during the colonial era in Africa. First of all, although luwalo was construed as an artifact of tradition that was in some ways outside the market, the administration’s own appraisal of luwalo showed that the unpaid labor actually served as an important revenue generation stream for the various local administrations within Uganda Protectorate, contributing tremendously to their base revenues. Secondly, despite the ideological and administrative effect of the Forced Labour Convention, the abolition of luwalo in Uganda shows that forced labor was not so much abolished as converted into an extractive tax. Even before abolition, the administration was, essentially, converting luwalo into a tax through the progressive extension of commutation payments paid by African males in order to avoid the work. With abolition, the administration simply made real what was already apparent by shifting the burden of the financial loss of luwalo onto the backs of Africans through a new Native Administration Tax. This virtual abolition of luwalo was a reflection of its economic importance.

  • © 2017 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

African Economic History: 45 (2)
African Economic History
Vol. 45, Issue 2
1 Jan 2017
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on African Economic History.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Virtual Abolition
(Your Name) has sent you a message from African Economic History
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the African Economic History web site.
Citation Tools
Virtual Abolition
OPOLOT OKIA
African Economic History Jan 2017, 45 (2) 54-84; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.45.2.54

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Virtual Abolition
OPOLOT OKIA
African Economic History Jan 2017, 45 (2) 54-84; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.45.2.54
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Forced Labor in British East Africa
    • Luwalo Forced Labor in Colonial Uganda
    • The Impact of the 1930 Forced Labour Convention
    • Abolition and the Economic Significance of Luwalo
    • Conclusion
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Balancing Subsistence Agriculture and Self-Employment in Small Businesses: Continuity and Change in Women’s Labor and Labor Relations in Mozambique, 1800–20001
  • Women and Work in Zimbabwe, c.1800–2000
  • Introduction
Show more Article

Similar Articles

UWP

© 2023 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire