In the final instalment of our three pieces to mark the publication of Working People Speak – Oral Histories of Neoliberal Africa, Kalundi Serumaga critically interrogates the concepts of 'workers' and 'working class' and their relevance outside of Western industrial society. He then reflects on how the oral history method might be one way to better understand the exploited and oppressed in their own contexts and in their own words.

This blog post is the second of three pieces marking the publication of Working People Speak – Oral Histories of Neoliberal Africa. It features Alexander Freund’s compelling foreword, which introduces the wide range of oral histories explored in the book, including interviews with female farm workers in South Africa, tea makers in South Sudan, and a prominent trade union leader in Zimbabwe. The foreword highlights the diverse ways oral history sheds light on the economic hardships, inequalities, and the profound socio-political and cultural changes neoliberalism has imposed on millions of ordinary working people.