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Book Book Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Social-movement unionism: a new model for a new world
Author:Waterman, PeterISNI
Year:1991
Issue:110
Pages:27
Language:English
Series:Working papers, General series (ISSN 0921-0210)
City of publisher:The Hague
Publisher:Institute of Social Studies
Geographic terms:world
South Africa
Subjects:trade unions
socialism
feminism
External link:https://hdl.handle.net/1765/18874
Abstract:Traditional socialist trade-union theories or models have not prevented the frequent isolation of labour from other social movements, or the subordination of labour struggles to the ideologies and interests of other categories and classes. Such understandings are today an obstacle to emancipatory strategies. Theory related to the new social movements, particularly feminism, 1) surpasses the notion of a single class identity and interest, 2) undermines a view of society as dominated by the economic and political spheres, and of social struggle as progressing from the first to the second, 3) suggests positive new relations between class, popular and democratic interests and demands, 4) provides a base for a new relationship with political parties, and 5) proposes a new view of the global and a new kind of internationalism. A ten-point theoretical/stategic definition of 'social-movement unionism' is offered which stresses the necessity and possibility for an intimate articulation of unionized workers with other workers, of labour with other social forces, and of shopfloor democracy with shopfloor internationalism. A test case offered to illustrate the argument is that of the relationship between an Indian feminist strategy for working women and recent trade-union experience in South Africa. The conclusion is that 'social-movement unionism' offers a continuously renewable emancipatory strategy surpassing current liberal, populist and socialist ones.
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