The Art of Running Away: Escapes and Flight Movements During the Great Depression in São Tomé e Príncipe, 1930–1936

During the Great Depression (1930–1936), contract workers in São Tomé e Príncipe's cocoa plantations employed strategic flight as a response to oppressive labor conditions, revealing complex agency within coerced labor systems. Analysis of archival records from the island's labor inspectorate uncovered three primary flight strategies: forming runaway communities, blending into 'native' (forro) groups, or negotiating with sympathetic authorities. These findings connect São Tomé’s experiences to broader global patterns of resistance in plantation and indentured labor systems, illustrating how workers navigated repression while asserting autonomy.

Contreras, B. V., & Keese, A. (2021). The Art of Running Away: Escapes and Flight Movements During the Great Depression in São Tomé e Príncipe, 1930–1936. International Review of Social History, 66(3), 357–388. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020859021000456