Labour recruitment among the Samburu of Kenya

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Periodical article

Title:	Labour recruitment among the Samburu of Kenya
Author:	Sperling, Louise
Year:	1985
Periodical:	Labour, Capital and Society
Volume:	18
Issue:	1
Pages:	68-86
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	Samburu labour animal husbandry
Abstract:	An investigation of labour recruitment among Samburu pastoralists of northern Kenya indicates that Samburu families are far from self-sufficient labour units. Herdowners amass much of their needed workforce by borrowing related children and by sharing tasks within their residential settlements. A variety of cooperative labour relationships have always coexisted although their frequency has changed through time. While Samburu herders increasingly seek wage employment in the Kenyan national economy, precapitalist labour arrangements persist within their own herding settlements where hired labour is virtually absent. The discussion proceeds in two sections: a qualitative description of the various types of work arrangements and a quantified case study of labour recruitment in a lowland Samburu area. Notes, sum. in French.