An analysis of the realities of everyday life for Okanagan Indians on a reserve near Vernon. Carstens applies the peasant model to the study of reserve systems and finds significant correlations. Questions of class, status, power, and institutionalized inequality also come into play.

After the 1925 discovery of diamonds in the semi-desert of the northwest coast of South Africa, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. virtually proclaimed its dominion over the whole region. In the town of Kleinzee, the company owns all the real estate and infrastructure, and controls and administers both the town and the industry.
Peter Carstens's "In the Company of Diamonds "draws a stark and startling portrait of this closed community, one that analyzes the power and hegemonic techniques used to acquire that power and maintain it.
As a prototypical company town, Kleinzee is subordinated...

After the 1925 discovery of diamonds in the semi-desert of the northwest coast of South Africa, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd virtually proclaimed its dominion over the whole region. In the town of Kleinzee, the company owns all the real estate and infrastructure, and controls and administers both the town and the industry. This work provides a portrait of the closed community, and analyses the power and hegemonic techniques used to acquire that power and maintain it. As a prototypical company town, Kleinzee is subordinated to the industry and will of the owners. Employees and workers are...