Clements Musa Kadalie and the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa

Between 1919 and 1929, Clements Musa Kadalie rose to worldwide fame as secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa (ICU). Under his leadership, the ICU transformed Southern Africa’s labor movement. Organizing black railway, dock and factory workers, miners, domestic servants, and farm laborers across South Africa, South West Africa (modern-day Namibia), Basutoland (Lesotho), and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) into “One Big Union,” the ICU led a number of strikes, challenged pass laws and unionized anywhere between 100,000 and 250,000 members. Over six foot tall and always dressed in an immaculate suit, Kadalie regularly addressed mass meetings of thousands of people across rural and urban South Africa. Kadalie was born in Chifira, Tongaland, British Central Africa Protectorate (modern-day Malawi) around 1895. After being expelled from the local mission school, he migrated via Southern Rhodesia to South Africa. He was elected as the ICU’s secretary at its first meeting. The ICU took a leading role in the 1919 Cape Town dock strike and won wage increases for dock workers in 1920. By 1925, the trade union had over 50 branches across Southern Africa and a widely circulating newspaper, The Workers’ Herald. In 1927, Kadalie toured Europe, calling on the international labor movement to campaign against a raft of repressive legislation. Amid fractious internal disputes, however, Kadalie’s “czarlike” character, frivolous expenditure and “foreign” birth were publicly denounced by rivals, and the financial contributions of ICU members collapsed. Kadalie led a breakaway Independent ICU from February 1929 and called a general strike in East London in January 1930. He passed away on November 28, 1951, leaving a complicated legacy. The ICU’s radical rhetoric and mass mobilization, nevertheless, demonstrated both the possibility and necessity of organizing black workers and inspired black leaders across the world for decades to come.

Hoeveel dialecten werden er gesproken in negentiende-eeuws Amsterdam?

How many dialects were spoken in nineteenth-century Amsterdam? In his Algemeen Nederduitsch en Friesch Dialecticon (1874) Johan Winkler stated, after consultation with Jan ter Gouw, that in 19th-century Amsterdam 19 different dialects could be distinguished. This article investigates whether it is possible to find evidence for this assertion in the surviving language material. For this purpose all language phenomena mentioned in 57 sources up till the mid-twentieth century have been put into a database, with information on the neighbourhood where they were used, and other metadata. The resulting database contains 9000 language phenomena of which around 4000 could be linked to a specific neighbourhood. From this it appeared that the number of 19 dialects mentioned by Winkler and Ter Gouw is an exaggeration: on the basis of the available linguistic information, we can only distinguish 5 of the 19 dialects mentioned by them. Next to these, however, we can distinguish a dialect not mentioned by Winkler and Ter Gouw, that of the higher classes (spoken along the Herengracht and Keizersgracht), and 5 sociolects or technical jargons: the Bargoens of thieves and tramps, the jargons of diamond workers, dock-workers, street musicians and players of bingo. Around 1900 the variation is reduced and the dialects gradually merged into a more or less uniform Amsterdam city dialect, due to mobility of labour.

Salivary Biomarkers and Work-Related Stress in Night Shift Workers

Work organization, such as shifts and night work, can interfere with the perception of work-related stress and therefore on the development of pathological conditions. Night shift work, particularly, can have a negative impact on workers’ wellbeing by interfering with the biological sphere. The aim of this study is to evaluate the associations between work activities, shift work effects and stress-related responses in 106 dock workers enrolled in southeast Italy. Dock workers’ tasks consist of complex activities that seemed to affect more sleep quality than work-related stress. An analysis of salivary biomarkers such as cortisol, α-amylase, melatonin and lysozyme was performed along with validated psycho-diagnostic questionnaires. Alpha-amylase showed a significant negative correlation with the effort/reward imbalance score; thus, the measurement of salivary α-amylase is proposed as a sensitive and non-invasive biomarker of work-related stress. This study may provide new insights into developing strategies for the management of night shift work. Salivary biomarkers should be further investigated in the future in order to develop simple and effective tools for the early diagnosis of work-related stress or its outcomes.

Two Original Manuscripts on Early-Modern Genoese History by, and a Short Biography of, the local historian Severino D. Dolente (1909–1993)

(A) Two well-drafted and never-before-published manuscripts by the Genoese local historian Severino Domenico Dolente (1909–1993): “Francesco di Rivarolo” (dealing with the role and relevance of the little-known Genoese galley-builder Francesco Oberti from Rivarolo in determining Christopher Columbus’ birthplace); and “La Strega” [The Witch] (dealing with the origins of a legendary “witch” around the year 1492, as recounted orally by the Genoese dock workers in 1950). (B) A short biography of Severino Domenico Dolente by his eldest daughter, Marisa Dolente (b. 1935), who is also a local historian and the author of the book Colombo viaggiò per i Borgognoni (Genoa: Liberodiscrivere, 2016).

High-Resolution Analysis of Wind Flow Behavior on Ship Stacks Configuration: A Portuguese Case Study

Atmospheric emissions related to harbor-related activities can significantly contribute to air pollution of coastal urban areas and so, could have implications to the citizens’ health that live in those areas. Of great concern is the local impact of the emissions that are generated while ships are at berth, since not all types of ships switch off the main engines. This paper intends to investigate the influence of the stack configuration for generic cargo ships on the exhaust smoke dispersion, using the Port of Leixões as a case study and a series of wind tunnel experiments with support of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. For that, different configurations of the stack of a cargo ship (in terms of height, geometry and diameter) were simulated under the typical wind conditions of the study area. The PIV results indicate negligible differences between the medium and long stack height, with the short stack height presenting a strong impact on the flow field around the stack. For the short stack height, the flow field is not only disturbed by the stack, but also by the cargo ship bridge, with both obstacles promoting disturbances on the flow field and creating a large wake turbulence effect, which is important for the downwash phenomena. Regarding the effects linked with two distinct geometries (straight or curved), the results show that the straight chimney led to higher perturbation of wind field when compared with the curved geometry. The curved stack presents an increase of vorticity, indicating the generation of more turbulent structures. The PIV results also confirmed that higher wind velocity at the inlet conducts to higher vorticity levels, as well as a higher number of Kelvin–Helmholtz structures. For distinct wind conditions the PIV measurements point out different patterns, indicating the northern wind direction as the most favorable condition for the exposure of dock workers to pollutants. Overall, the results showed that a ship stack with a curved end, medium length and smaller diameter has the capability to promote the behaviors in the flow that are coherent with increased pollutant dispersion.

Czechoslovak Seafarers’ Memories of Polish Ports as their “Second Home” during the State Socialism Period (1949–1989)

Czechoslovakia began to develop its ocean fleet after the communist coup d’état in 1948. Prague was designated as the place of registration for these ships. From a practical point of view, however, it was necessary for the Czechoslovak fleet to reach a port located as close as possible to the Czechoslovak border. Szczecin (located 298 km from the border) became the base for the fleet not only due to the political circumstances of the Cold War but also for economic reasons. While Hamburg remained a vital harbor for international trade where “East meets West,” Polish ports were used not only for loading and unloading goods and transporting them to the republic but also to supply ships, change crews, carry out most shipyard maintenance, etc. Consequently, Czechoslovak seafarers themselves called Szczecin their “home port.” Numerous aspects of this perception as “home” will be reflected on in this paper. Specifically, the paper will touch on perceptions of Poles (mainly seafarers and dock workers), some aspects of the relationships among Czechoslovaks and Poles, including a discussion of some important historical issues (1968, the 1980s) in this area. This paper is based on archival sources, oral history interviews with former seafarers, and published memoirs. It should contribute to broader research and understanding of relationships among people living in various parts of the socialist block and show different images of life under socialism(s).

“We Are in the Museum Nowˮ

Global developments like the introduction of the container since the 1960s strongly influenced work structures and spaces of action for dock workers. This article looks at the experiences of these workers and their positioning within this process. It presents some central findings of my PhD dissertation, an empirical study analysing the narrations of former Hamburg dock workers about spatial and socio-cultural transformations. Only a few years after the arrival of the container in Hamburg, skilled professions replaced traditional ones in order to secure container handling. These structural transformations led to better social and financial conditions of those able to continue their work and resulted in changed self-images of those pursuing a career. Besides the technical transformation, a parallel process of musealisation of dock work took place, documenting these developments. The involvement and commitment of former workers in the Harbour Museum further indicate a shift in the economic and cultural capital of some protagonists.

Andreja Papārdes dzeja 20. gadsimta sākuma laikmeta un latviešu dzejas kontekstā

Andrejs Papārde’s real name is Miķelis Valters (1874–1968), he was born and raised in Liepāja in a family of dock workers. Valters is a versatile personality – a Doctor of Juridical Science, a social worker, a politician and a diplomat with outstanding accomplishments in Latvian history. Valters was also an art theorist and poet. He signed his literary works with a pseudonym Andrejs Papārde. In literature, Papārde announces himself in the 1890s with works of short prose and reflections, later also with poetry. In book shape, his poetry is published after the 1905 Russian Revolution. He has three collections of poems published. The first collection of poems “Tantris” was published in 1908 in Helsingfors. The collection consists of little poems in short verses, without titles, but listed with roman numerals from one to eighty-nine. The poems are written in free verse, without rhymes, and they are characterized by allegoric expression and symbolic characters. The poetry is allegorically symbolic, with no specific place and time. The inflecting sound of verses is dominated by a pessimistic and depressive feel. The common gloomy atmosphere of the poems in the collections is formed by the imagery of pessimistic expressions, the dominance of the black colour and a severely dramatic sense of the world of the main character. The scenes with depressive characters capture the horror of a global apocalypse as well as the fear of an individual threat. The atmosphere of misery and hopelessness is created by grim stylistics and negative semantic characters. The very few characters of positive expression cannot dispel the overall dreary and sorrowful mood. Andrejs Papārde’s second poem collection “Ēnas uz akmeņiem” comes out in 1910 in Riga. The collection consists of seventy poems numbered with Arabic numerals. Interestingly, the pages are not numbered, thus only the number of a poem can be indicated in the references. All of the poems are of small scale, ranging from five to twelve lines, most of them are poems of six to eight short lines. All of the poems from the collection are without titles, written in free verse and without rhymes. The form of the poems is almost compressed to a maximum. The free verse and the intelligent dimension of the poems allow perceiving Papārde’s poetry similarly to Japanese haiku or tanka. Verses filled with depressive feelings in a way persist in his second collection of poems, however this time in not so unvaryingly dull manner and not so fatally obedient. More often, but not entirely levelled, optimistic tunes are played. The night continues to reign, there is still a lot of black colour, but more often there are mentionings of mornings. Notably, for expressing optimistic feelings, verbs are used in the future tense. Papārde’s second poem collection “Ēnas zem akmeņiem” ends on an optimistic tune, but that is certainly not a naive optimism of non-existing problems. Papārde’s third poem collection “Mūžība” subtitled “Mana dziesma” was published in 1914 in Helsingfors. Unlike in the previous collections, in this one, all of the poems have titles, and they are no longer numbered. The author consistently keeps writing in a rhymeless free verse. Almost like with inertia, there is still skepticism and disappointment. But there is much more confidence than before, the willingness to withstand difficulties, hard times, and there is hope for the tomorrow, for the “Easter morning”, for a new day. In this poem collection, Papārde and the main character slowly turn into an ambassador of light and an admirer of the sun, thus joining the many sun worshipers and the light announcers in Latvian literature. The character system close to romanticism, individual sovereign subjectivity, intimate sounding verses, dynamic use of abstractions and symbols are all associated with the 20th-century romanticism, or in other words, the neo-romanticism. The dominance of the pessimistic atmosphere differentiates this poetry as a depressive neo-romanticism or so-called catastrophic romanticism poetry.

Our Actors May Become Our Emancipators

This chapter examines how Black performance communities in New York City and Seattle transformed the political narrative of Stevedore from an interracial labor drama into a play of Black self-determination. First staged by the Theatre Union in New York in 1934, this white-authored labor drama explores interracial relations between Black and white dockworkers. The Black hero who stands up for fellow dockworkers is framed on a rape charge. When the white mob arrives to lynch the Black hero, Black dock workers fight back with the help of white union men. Two years later Stevedore was staged by the Seattle Negro Unit. On the federal theatre the interracial ending was downplayed, and possibly dropped altogether: Black men appear to resist the white mob alone. Black self-determination, rather than interracial unionism wins the day. Stevedore’s fascinating production history offers insight into the practices and theoretical debates which framed political theatre in the 1930s. It suggests that Black performance communities moved beyond the realist-anti-realist binaries that consumed white leftist theatre and instead developed a Black realism with radical potential.