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The International Labour Organization and African Trade Unions : tripartite fantasies and enduring struggles
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Bernards, Nick (2017) The International Labour Organization and African Trade Unions : tripartite fantasies and enduring struggles. Review of African Political Economy, 44 (153). pp. 399-414. doi:10.1080/03056244.2017.1318359 ISSN 0305-6244.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2017.1318359
Abstract
This article examines the complex and contradictory history of interactions between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and trade unions in Africa from 1960 to the present. The paper focuses in particular on ILO efforts to deliver technical assistance to trade unions. I highlight the tensions raised by the mismatch between ILO’s adherence to a particular view of industrial unionism rooted in northern European experience, which I label the ‘tripartite fantasy’ and the political and economic realities of labour in Africa. The article draws on original archival and interview evidence to trace out the subtle conflicts raised by these tensions. It focuses in particular on the difficulty in balancing the principle of freedom of association with efforts to promote ‘unity’ among African unions. These tensions played out most clearly in efforts to organise assistance to unions under apartheid. The article concludes by reflecting on the difficult position of the ILO in contemporary African politics.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DT Africa H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies > Global Sustainable Development | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | International Labour Organisation, Labor unions -- Africa, Industrial relations -- Africa, Economic development -- Political aspects -- Africa | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Review of African Political Economy | ||||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||
| ISSN: | 0305-6244 | ||||||
| Official Date: | 15 June 2017 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 44 | ||||||
| Number: | 153 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 399-414 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1080/03056244.2017.1318359 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 9 May 2018 | ||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 31 January 2019 | ||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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