The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief tha... more The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief that labour movements have been fundamentally undermined is spurious. Neoliberal globalisation has created a new operating context for labour, yet scholarship has commonly either emphasised the vast challenges this new context has created for labour movements or posited new social movements as the standard bearers of anti-neoliberal struggles-setting aside labour movements as the remnants of a bygone era. This action note questions such perspectives by evidencing the extent to which labour movements in the global south remain prominent forces in anti-neoliberal struggles, exploring how they have adapted to the challenges of informalisation and the rise of new social movements engaging in progressive causes beyond traditional union concerns. In doing so, this note outlines some general principles for southern union engagement with informal workers, new social movements and actors in the glob...
This essay will argue in favour of a Postcolonial account of world politics. It must be noted tha... more This essay will argue in favour of a Postcolonial account of world politics. It must be noted that as penetrative critiques of Eurocentric historiography can be found elsewhere, this essay begins from a position of basic acquiescence with the beliefs and ideas of the Postcolonial approach, and only a basic critique of Eurocentric conceptualisations of world politics will be offered. Whilst it is certainly true that Postcolonialism entails a ‘multiplicity of perspectives, traditions, and approaches to questions of identity, culture, and power’ and spans across many academic disciplines, this essay will seek to draw together the major strands of argument which bind the Postcolonial approach as a whole.[1] These will be understood as: the rehabilitation of Eastern agency and subaltern voices within history, the hybrid nature of societies and the power of identity and cultural discourses. Through critical engagement with these tenets, a set of theoretical tensions which underlie them wi...
Within current discourses on the failure of development in Africa, it is easy to forget that in 1... more Within current discourses on the failure of development in Africa, it is easy to forget that in 1969, Zambia had a higher GDP than nations such as Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea (Ferguson 1999) and even a decade later, Zambia was still considered a middle income country. This stands in stark contrast to today, where Zambia sits near the bottom of the World Bank’s developing countries index and an estimated 68% of households do not have sufficient income to cover basic needs (Ferguson 1999). This report will begin by providing a brief background to how this situation came about, in the form of a history of the political economy of Zambia, and will trace Ferguson’s (1999) term ‘abjection’ into the contemporary Copperbelt. An analysis of mineworker resistance activity within the union movement will also be offered, before an exploration of the context of power under which mineworker resistance now takes place. This resistance will be analysed by utilising current empirical knowledge ...
Zimbabwe has long been considered a country in crisis. It stands at 173 out of 187 on the Human D... more Zimbabwe has long been considered a country in crisis. It stands at 173 out of 187 on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2011), and the social, economic and political rights of its population have been repeatedly disregarded. Zimbabwe’s entrenched economic crisis saw inflation peak at 231 million per cent in 2008; poverty is endemic and approximately 3 million people, or a quarter of the population, have emigrated abroad (Matombo and Sachikonye 2010). Attributing the blame for this situation and understanding how such a crisis arose is a complex task worthy of considerable analysis in its own right, but for the sake of this dissertation two concepts will be utilised as representing a duo of malignant forces largely responsible for the problems facing ordinary Zimbabweans.
In order to understand why labour movements in the global south may play a prominent role in stru... more In order to understand why labour movements in the global south may play a prominent role in struggles against neoliberal globalisation, this essay will first consider the nature of neoliberal reforms and the consequences they entail for organised labour. The idea of a fatally undermined labour movement will then be problematised, and an outline of the forms of worker resistance emanating from the global south will be offered within the context of encroaching informalisation. The characterisation of social movements as representing a particularly viable form of resistance activity to neoliberal globalisation will be considered, alongside a critical analysis of whether this really points to the usurpation of the labour movement. Evidence of Social Movement Unionism in the global south will then be used to analyse its efficacy as a new model for labour organising, with the challenges and potential solutions to the issues highlighted sketched from wide-ranging empirical evidence. At th...
Oil has become a serious topic of academic discussion, largely pertaining to the developmental pr... more Oil has become a serious topic of academic discussion, largely pertaining to the developmental prospects it may confer and the links it has to conflict. Literature on the ‘resource curse’ has suggested that natural resources such as oil can create violent competition and protracted conflict over access to resource wealth. The forms this violence takes have been connected to the nature of the particular resource (Le Billon 2005; Ross 2003). This literature forms part of a broader research agenda considering economic explanations for conflict and civil war. A leading figure in this area, Paul Collier has proposed the ‘feasibility hypothesis’, stipulating: ‘where rebellion is materially feasible it will occur’ and that the motivations behind violent rebellion ‘are incidental to the explanation of civil war’ (Collier et al. 2006, 5). Collier strongly suggests that it is economic greed, the wish to gain access to resource wealth and the clientalist rents commonly connected to natural res...
Interface: a journal for and about social movements, 2012
The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief tha... more The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief that labour movements have been fundamentally undermined is spurious. Neoliberal globalisation has created a new operating context for labour, yet scholarship has commonly either emphasised the vast challenges this new context has created for labour movements or posited new social movements as the standard bearers of anti-neoliberal struggles-setting aside labour movements as the remnants of a bygone era. This action note questions such perspectives by evidencing the extent to which labour movements in the global south remain prominent forces in anti-neoliberal struggles, exploring how they have adapted to the challenges of informalisation and the rise of new social movements engaging in progressive causes beyond traditional union concerns. In doing so, this note outlines some general principles for southern union engagement with informal workers, new social movements and actors in the global north, which create opportunities for mutual benefits and the strengthening of shared struggles against neoliberal globalisation.
Journal of Politics and International Studies, 2012
This article attributes the crisis in Zimbabwe and the privation of the Zimbabwean people to two ... more This article attributes the crisis in Zimbabwe and the privation of the Zimbabwean people to two malignant factors; the political authoritarianism of the Mugabe regime and the neoliberalism evident in the structural adjustment programme of the 1990s and punitive economic actions against Zimbabwe in the 2000s. The Mugabe regime's shift towards anti-imperialism and land reform in 2000 has engendered political polarisation, creating the perception of two competing political blocs and divergent perspectives on what constitutes a truly 'emancipatory' struggle in Zimbabwe. In an attempt to transcend this polarising narrative, an 'emancipatory' struggle is here understood as one which avoids undermining either political or socioeconomic rights by offering an effective challenge to both political authoritarianism and neoliberalism. A strong opposition movement centred upon the labour movement has offered such a struggle, particularly through the radical agenda and activism of the rank-and-file workers as part of a broader labour multitude at the grassroots of civil society. Labour's struggle has not been unproblematic; internal tensions, difficulties engaging with rural land redistribution struggles and the nascent neoliberalism of the MDC have created notable problems. However, by navigating the polarised realities of Zimbabwe and the continued challenges posed by political authoritarianism and neoliberalism, the labour movement has retained its potential as an emancipatory and de-polarising force in Zimbabwe.
The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief tha... more The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief that labour movements have been fundamentally undermined is spurious. Neoliberal globalisation has created a new operating context for labour, yet scholarship has commonly either emphasised the vast challenges this new context has created for labour movements or posited new social movements as the standard bearers of anti-neoliberal struggles-setting aside labour movements as the remnants of a bygone era. This action note questions such perspectives by evidencing the extent to which labour movements in the global south remain prominent forces in anti-neoliberal struggles, exploring how they have adapted to the challenges of informalisation and the rise of new social movements engaging in progressive causes beyond traditional union concerns. In doing so, this note outlines some general principles for southern union engagement with informal workers, new social movements and actors in the glob...
This essay will argue in favour of a Postcolonial account of world politics. It must be noted tha... more This essay will argue in favour of a Postcolonial account of world politics. It must be noted that as penetrative critiques of Eurocentric historiography can be found elsewhere, this essay begins from a position of basic acquiescence with the beliefs and ideas of the Postcolonial approach, and only a basic critique of Eurocentric conceptualisations of world politics will be offered. Whilst it is certainly true that Postcolonialism entails a ‘multiplicity of perspectives, traditions, and approaches to questions of identity, culture, and power’ and spans across many academic disciplines, this essay will seek to draw together the major strands of argument which bind the Postcolonial approach as a whole.[1] These will be understood as: the rehabilitation of Eastern agency and subaltern voices within history, the hybrid nature of societies and the power of identity and cultural discourses. Through critical engagement with these tenets, a set of theoretical tensions which underlie them wi...
Within current discourses on the failure of development in Africa, it is easy to forget that in 1... more Within current discourses on the failure of development in Africa, it is easy to forget that in 1969, Zambia had a higher GDP than nations such as Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea (Ferguson 1999) and even a decade later, Zambia was still considered a middle income country. This stands in stark contrast to today, where Zambia sits near the bottom of the World Bank’s developing countries index and an estimated 68% of households do not have sufficient income to cover basic needs (Ferguson 1999). This report will begin by providing a brief background to how this situation came about, in the form of a history of the political economy of Zambia, and will trace Ferguson’s (1999) term ‘abjection’ into the contemporary Copperbelt. An analysis of mineworker resistance activity within the union movement will also be offered, before an exploration of the context of power under which mineworker resistance now takes place. This resistance will be analysed by utilising current empirical knowledge ...
Zimbabwe has long been considered a country in crisis. It stands at 173 out of 187 on the Human D... more Zimbabwe has long been considered a country in crisis. It stands at 173 out of 187 on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2011), and the social, economic and political rights of its population have been repeatedly disregarded. Zimbabwe’s entrenched economic crisis saw inflation peak at 231 million per cent in 2008; poverty is endemic and approximately 3 million people, or a quarter of the population, have emigrated abroad (Matombo and Sachikonye 2010). Attributing the blame for this situation and understanding how such a crisis arose is a complex task worthy of considerable analysis in its own right, but for the sake of this dissertation two concepts will be utilised as representing a duo of malignant forces largely responsible for the problems facing ordinary Zimbabweans.
In order to understand why labour movements in the global south may play a prominent role in stru... more In order to understand why labour movements in the global south may play a prominent role in struggles against neoliberal globalisation, this essay will first consider the nature of neoliberal reforms and the consequences they entail for organised labour. The idea of a fatally undermined labour movement will then be problematised, and an outline of the forms of worker resistance emanating from the global south will be offered within the context of encroaching informalisation. The characterisation of social movements as representing a particularly viable form of resistance activity to neoliberal globalisation will be considered, alongside a critical analysis of whether this really points to the usurpation of the labour movement. Evidence of Social Movement Unionism in the global south will then be used to analyse its efficacy as a new model for labour organising, with the challenges and potential solutions to the issues highlighted sketched from wide-ranging empirical evidence. At th...
Oil has become a serious topic of academic discussion, largely pertaining to the developmental pr... more Oil has become a serious topic of academic discussion, largely pertaining to the developmental prospects it may confer and the links it has to conflict. Literature on the ‘resource curse’ has suggested that natural resources such as oil can create violent competition and protracted conflict over access to resource wealth. The forms this violence takes have been connected to the nature of the particular resource (Le Billon 2005; Ross 2003). This literature forms part of a broader research agenda considering economic explanations for conflict and civil war. A leading figure in this area, Paul Collier has proposed the ‘feasibility hypothesis’, stipulating: ‘where rebellion is materially feasible it will occur’ and that the motivations behind violent rebellion ‘are incidental to the explanation of civil war’ (Collier et al. 2006, 5). Collier strongly suggests that it is economic greed, the wish to gain access to resource wealth and the clientalist rents commonly connected to natural res...
Interface: a journal for and about social movements, 2012
The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief tha... more The age of global neoliberalism has created a crisis for traditional unionism, yet the belief that labour movements have been fundamentally undermined is spurious. Neoliberal globalisation has created a new operating context for labour, yet scholarship has commonly either emphasised the vast challenges this new context has created for labour movements or posited new social movements as the standard bearers of anti-neoliberal struggles-setting aside labour movements as the remnants of a bygone era. This action note questions such perspectives by evidencing the extent to which labour movements in the global south remain prominent forces in anti-neoliberal struggles, exploring how they have adapted to the challenges of informalisation and the rise of new social movements engaging in progressive causes beyond traditional union concerns. In doing so, this note outlines some general principles for southern union engagement with informal workers, new social movements and actors in the global north, which create opportunities for mutual benefits and the strengthening of shared struggles against neoliberal globalisation.
Journal of Politics and International Studies, 2012
This article attributes the crisis in Zimbabwe and the privation of the Zimbabwean people to two ... more This article attributes the crisis in Zimbabwe and the privation of the Zimbabwean people to two malignant factors; the political authoritarianism of the Mugabe regime and the neoliberalism evident in the structural adjustment programme of the 1990s and punitive economic actions against Zimbabwe in the 2000s. The Mugabe regime's shift towards anti-imperialism and land reform in 2000 has engendered political polarisation, creating the perception of two competing political blocs and divergent perspectives on what constitutes a truly 'emancipatory' struggle in Zimbabwe. In an attempt to transcend this polarising narrative, an 'emancipatory' struggle is here understood as one which avoids undermining either political or socioeconomic rights by offering an effective challenge to both political authoritarianism and neoliberalism. A strong opposition movement centred upon the labour movement has offered such a struggle, particularly through the radical agenda and activism of the rank-and-file workers as part of a broader labour multitude at the grassroots of civil society. Labour's struggle has not been unproblematic; internal tensions, difficulties engaging with rural land redistribution struggles and the nascent neoliberalism of the MDC have created notable problems. However, by navigating the polarised realities of Zimbabwe and the continued challenges posed by political authoritarianism and neoliberalism, the labour movement has retained its potential as an emancipatory and de-polarising force in Zimbabwe.
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