ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to contribute to an understanding of festive consumption of alcoholic drinks through an examination of work parties and beer drinking in South Africa's Transkei. It reviews the general relationship between labor and the consumption of beer and thus avoids the pitfall of analyzing only those work-parties at which beer is consumed, or only those beer-drinks associated with work. The chapter critiques the conventional approach to work-parties and the standard typology of co-operative work in Africa. It implies that the beer drinking associated with one form of labor is also relevant for an understanding of other forms. The chapter argues that beer drinking in general is related closely to co-operative labour in general. Attention to the consumption, which accompanies agricultural and other labor, is necessary for a proper understanding of the latter, even though co-operative labor takes on a variety of forms, not all of which are associated with beer-drinking.
