The allure of violence: Men, race and masculinity on the South African goldmines, 1900-1950

Irt the history of the modern industrial world the Witwatersrand stands out in four key respects. First, the size of the workforce which grew from around 200,000 men in 1910 to over 400,000 in 1940; second, the longevity of an industry that has continued almost uninterrupted for well over a century; third its geographical concentration; and fourth, its exclusively male demographic character. All four of these features suggest that we need to pay very close attention to an important question: What kinds of masculinities, to use Connell's term, were forged on the South African gold mines? A succinct answer does spring to mind. The gold mines fashioned explicitly racial masculinities and ant intensely monitored legal, economic and geographical boundary between them. Between 1900 and 1950 and probably for some time thereafter, the definitive encounter between white and black men in South Africa was underground on the gold mines. The evidence that we have on the relationship suggests that it was characterised by high levels of personal violence. This article explores worker relationships, and argues that the reason that violence was so common on the mines was that both black and white men celebrated the capacity for personal violence as a key element of masculinity.