The Politics of Solidarity

Privatisation, Precarious Work and Labour in South Africa

Carmen Ludwig

Cite this publication as

Carmen Ludwig, The Politics of Solidarity (2020), Campus Frankfurt / New York, 60486 Frankfurt/Main, ISBN: 9783593441023

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Description / Abstract

Politische Transformation - und dann? 25 Jahre nach dem Ende der Apartheid sieht sich die südafrikanische Gesellschaft nach wie vor mit drastischen Ungleichheiten konfrontiert. Carmen Ludwig nimmt den Wandel öffentlicher Dienstleistungen im Post-Apartheid-Südafrika und die Auswirkungen der kommunalen Privatisierungen in den Blick. Sie zeigt anhand dreier Großstädte politische Konfliktlinien und lokale Gewerkschaftsstrategien im Spannungsfeld von in- und exklusiver Solidarität auf. Zudem stellt sie die Frage, wie es Gewerkschaften gelingen kann, Solidarität in fragmentierten Belegschaften herzustellen.

Description

Carmen Ludwig ist wiss. Mitarbeiterin an der Universität Gießen und assoz. Mitglied am Society, Work and Development Institute der Witwatersrand Universität Johannesburg.

Table of content

  • BEGINN
  • Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgements
  • 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 Central Research Question and Aims of Research
  • 1.2 Overview of the Book
  • 2 Theoretical Framework: Solidarity and Trade Union Power Resources
  • 2.1 Scales of Power: Conceptualising Workers†™ Power Resources
  • 2.2 Power through Organisation
  • 2.3 The Power to Disrupt Within and Outside the Workplace
  • 2.4 Society as an Ally
  • 2.5 The Dual Character of Institutional Power
  • 2.6 Trade Union Strategies between Inclusive and Exclusive Solidarity
  • 2.7 Interim Conclusion and Stages of Inquiry
  • 3 Methodology and Research Design
  • 3.1 Setting the Stage: The Selection of the Three Research Sites
  • 3.2 Participant Observation and Problem-centred Interviews
  • 3.3 Analysing the Field with the Extended Case Method
  • 3.4 Conducting Research in a Contested Field
  • 4 From Apartheid to Post-Apartheid: Labour in a Contested Terrain
  • 4.1 Contesting the Labour Regime, Building Associational Power: A Brief History of the South African Labour Movement
  • 4.2 From the Freedom Charter to GEAR: Conflicts within the Alliance on Macroeconomic Policy
  • 4.3 Privatising Local Government: The Legislative Framework
  • 4.4 The Fragmentation of the South African Labour Market: Core, Non-core, Periphery
  • 4.5 The South African Labour Movement at a Crossroads
  • 5 Privatisation and the Commodification of Public Services in Johannesburg and Cape Town
  • 5.1 The Post-Apartheid Challenge: Restructuring Johannesburg
  • 5.2 Hollowing out the Local State: iGoli 2002
  • 5.3 The SAMWU Response to iGoli 2002
  • 5.4 Restructuring and Privatisation in Cape Town
  • 5.5 The SAMWU Response to Privatisation
  • 6 A Partial Inclusive Union Strategy: Organising a Fragmented Municipal Workforce in Johannesburg
  • 6.1 Facing the Divide: The increasing Fragmentation of the Workforce in Pikitup
  • 6.2 Contesting what a Labour Broker is: The Triangular Employment Relationship in Pikitup
  • 6.3 The Manufacturing of Insecurity in the Workplace
  • 6.4 The Pikitup Strike of 2011
  • 6.5 Failing Interactions between Contract Workers and SAMWU
  • 6.6 A Sense of Belonging: CWP Workers Seeking Union Representation
  • 6.7 Interim Conclusion: A Partial Inclusive Strategy of Union Representation
  • 7 An Inclusive Union Strategy: Organising a Fragmented Municipal Workforce in Cape Town
  • 7.1 Confronting the Effects of Privatisation in Cape Town
  • 7.2 Experiences in Organising Workers in Private Waste Companies
  • 7.3 The Campaign against Labour Broking in Cape Town
  • 7.4 An Uphill Battle: Taking up the Struggle of EPWP Workers
  • 7.5 Mobilising Power Resources: Extending the Core
  • 7.6 Logistical Power and the Contested Post-Apartheid Order
  • 7.7 Discursive Power and the Legitimacy of Claims
  • 7.8 Labour and Community Alliances in Cape Town
  • 7.9 Interim Conclusion: An Inclusive Union Strategy
  • 8 An Exclusive Union Strategy: Organising a Fragmented Municipal Workforce in Ekurhuleni
  • 8.1 Conditions and Effects of Outsourcing in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
  • 8.2 “SAMWU we need our jobs back†: Cleaning Workers in Ekurhuleni
  • 8.3 Alternative Forms of Organisation: The Casual Workers Advice Office in Germiston
  • 8.4 Exclusive Solidarity: SAMWU†™s Strategy towards Non-core Workers
  • 9 Conclusion
  • Figures
  • Tables
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Index

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