This work investigates the socio-economic impact of labor migration on Black rural communities within the context of South Africa's industrial development. Philip and Iona Mayer, both established anthropologists, utilize extensive fieldwork and ethnographic observation to analyze how the migrant labor system reshaped traditional social structures. They argue that the movement of men between rural homes and industrial centers created a unique, dualistic social existence that fundamentally altered family dynamics and community cohesion.

Experts in African studies and anthropology recognize this text as a foundational contribution to understanding the human cost of industrial labor policies in the region. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the rigorous methodology employed by the authors to document a transformative period in South African history.