Authority and control in a South African Goldmine Compound
Date
1978-10
Authors
Pearson, Patrick
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Abstract
The goldmine compound conforms fairly closely to what Goffman describes as
the " total institution ". He defines it as "a place of residence and work
where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider
society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally
administered round of life ". (Goffman, 1968 p. 11).
It is the last element of his definition - that which points to the
intervention of the authorities into many aspects of the inmate's daily
life which is the most important for the purposes of this paper. I seek
to examine three aspects of the exercise of control in the compound situation .
The first part will describe the authority roles of various personnel in the
compound and evaluate the usefulness of applying Gluckman's concept of the
interhierarchical (or inter-calary) role position. I will argue chat only
when authority and power are derived from different and conflicting sources,
can a role be accurately described as being interhierarchical.
The second part will look more generally at the nature of the total institution as manifested in the compound situation and the way in which this
environment contributes to the effective control of the resident and subjugates
the worker in his environment through assaults on his identity.
The third part will seek to identify worker/inmate reaction to the compound
system and show how the organization of the room serves to recreate with varying
degrees of success, an identity which has been assailed by the needs of mine
management.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented October 1976
Keywords
Unskilled labor. South Africa, Gold mining industry. South Africa, Gold mines and mining. South Africa