Mzabalazo On the Move: Organising on a South African Commuter Train.
The existing literature on labour movements notes how trade unions have been weakened in recent years. This observable pattern is not unique to South Africa; arguably, this decline represents a global phenomenon characterised by the disintegration of erstwhile militant labour movements. In the case...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Southern African Studies Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 895 - 910 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Oct2019
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=139785687&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 139785687 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03057070 JSF jtl: Journal of Southern African Studies issn: 03057070 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2019 vid: 45 iid: 5 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 139785687 10.1080/03057070.2019.1684711 ppf: 895 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 139785687 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 139785687 tig: atl: Mzabalazo On the Move: Organising on a South African Commuter Train. aug: au: Mmadi, Mpho affil: University of Pretoria su: South Africa African National Congress Labor movement Labor unions Social movements Railroad commuter service Transportation industry sug: subj: Labor movement Labor unions Social movements South Africa African National Congress Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations Commuter Rail Systems Urban transit systems All Other Support Activities for Transportation Railroad commuter service Transportation industry keyword: comrade comrades' coach Mamelodi Train Sector social-movement unionism socio-spatial dialectic space comrade comrades' coach Mamelodi Train Sector social-movement unionism socio-spatial dialectic space ab: The existing literature on labour movements notes how trade unions have been weakened in recent years. This observable pattern is not unique to South Africa; arguably, this decline represents a global phenomenon characterised by the disintegration of erstwhile militant labour movements. In the case of South Africa, the post-apartheid neoliberal labour regime has fragmented the militant social-movement unionism (SMU) of the 1980s almost to the point of extinction. Despite this trend, various studies have detailed pockets of revival and resistance by workers spread across a variety of sectors and continents. My article seeks to contribute to this literature by drawing on the case study of Mamelodi Train Sector (MTS). MTS was formed in 2001 as a 'mobilising structure', aligned to the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners. Using the notion of space as a theoretical tool, I attempt to understand MTS and the space it organises – the train. MTS utilises the travel time spent going to and from work to offer legislative education to largely unorganised/non-unionised workers. In addition to legislative education, MTS members (self-styled comrades) discuss community issues and matters pertaining to the ANC's tripartite alliance as an attempt to foster a particular kind of identity politics. The data collected reveals that, among other contributions, MTS offers hope and a sense of solidarity to those workers without workplace representation. The comradely sense of belonging, buttressed by a common identity, potentially mitigates the impact of workplace fragmentation – experienced by the majority of workers in South Africa. Organising on the train points to one missing link in our current efforts to understand workers' agency – the geography of transport in South Africa and its related possibilities as a site of revival. With a specific focus on the MTS as a case study, I suggest that the train, as a by-product of apartheid spatiality, represents a strategic location for worker organisation in South Africa. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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