Barya, John-Jean B. (1990) Law, state and working class organisation in Uganda, 1962-1987. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis describes and interprets the historical development
of the legal regulation of the Ugandan trade union movement and
assesses the relative importance of law in the determination of the
character of trade union organisation in the post-colonial period
1962-1987. Chapter I defines the scope of the thesis and identifies
the theoretical framework and analytical themes on which the thesis
is based. Chapter II deals with the colonial foundations of the
post-colonial legislation with which the thesis is mainly concerned.
Chapters III, IV and V cover the period 1962-1987 whereby we
analyse, first, the class and political character of the legal
changes that take place between 1963-1976. Secondly, we examine the
practical operation and impact of the law vis-a-vis the role of
state policy and behaviour, the ideological outlook adopted by the
trade unions, union constitutional structures and leadership
struggles in the formation of the character of contemporary trade
unionism in Uganda.
The thesis treats law as a historical category and takes as its
starting point the Marxist conceptualisations which view law
variously as an instrument of the dominant class, as ideology or
which attempt a materialist analysis. From these perspectives we
examine the processes of class struggle through which the specific
legislation came into being and more crucially the importance of the
balance of class forces in the practical utilisation of legal rights
or restrictions.
We conclude in Chapter VI that while the economic parameters in
which trade unions exist and operate are important determinants of
union character, within those parameters the character of the state
has proved to be most crucial. But at the level of the unions
themselves, the ideology they adopt, their constitutional structures
and leadership struggles, together, have created the contemporary
undemocratic, economistic-apolitical and technocratic aspects of
trade unionism in Uganda. However law has been important for the
unions to the extent that it has been mainly a source of
legitimation for their autonomous existence, most of the time, in
their chequered history.
The analysis of the historical and class origins and nature of
the law regulating trade union organisation and the assessment we
make of the role of law vis-a-vis the role played by other factors
in determining the character of trade union organisation in Uganda
is, in our view, an original contribution to the knowledge of
industrial relations law in Uganda. The construction and
interpretation of the historical phases through which both trade
union law and trade union organisation have passed is likewise an
original contribution to the knowledge of trade unionism in Uganda.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor K Law [LC] > KN Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Labor unions -- Law and legislation -- Uganda -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	January 1990
Dates:	Date Event January 1990 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Moffat, Graham, 1944-
Sponsors:	Association of Commonwealth Universities ; Africa Educational Trust (London, England) ; Gilchrist Educational Trust ; University of Warwick. Dept. of Law
Extent:	386 leaves
Language:	eng

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