Speaker: Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi
Date: Wednesday, 25th April 2018
Time: 4:15pm
Venue: Eden Grove Seminar Room 2
The series is run by Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU) and the Departments of Sociology, History, and Economics and Economic History.
THE EDITORS: Malehoko Tshoaedi is an Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, and has worked at the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP), University of the Witwatersrand. Her books include "Labour beyond COSATU: Mapping the Ruptures in South Africa's Labour Landscapes" (co-edited with Andries Bezuidenhout, 2017), and "COSATU's Contested Legacy: South African Trade Unions in the Second Decade of Democracy" (co-edited with Sakhela Buhlungu, 2012). Her research interests include women, unions and gender and diversity at work.
Andries Bezuidenhout has worked as an Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Pretoria, and at SWOP, University of the Witwatersrand. His books include "Labour beyond COSATU: Mapping the Ruptures in South Africa's Labour Landscapes" (2017, co-edited with Malehoko Tshoaedi), and "Grounding Globalization: Labour in the Age of Insecurity" (2008, with Eddie Webster and Rob Lambert). He is also a well-known artist, columnist and singer. His research interests include mining, globalisation and unions.
THE BOOK: "Labour Beyond COSATU" brings together cutting-edge research on the state of the labour movement in South Africa today. Based on case studies and surveys, the book examines how unions have been affected by capitalist restructuring and party politics, how the main union federation - the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - has changed as it moves away from its traditional blue-collar base, how unions have interacted with service delivery protests and other parts of civil society, the politics of gender and men's power in unions, and the struggle for union democracy. It paints a revealing picture of a movement in flux, shaped by the massacre of mineworkers, the failure of the Zuma government to break with neo-liberal policy, and the split that saw several key unions - notably the radical National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) - leave to form a rival to COSATU, which no longer has the dominance it once enjoyed. Questions that arise include where is labour headed and what is the fate of COSATU's alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the SA Communist Party (SACP)? The book is the fifth in the "Taking Democracy Seriously" series. Contributors include Andries Bezuidenhout, Christine Bischoff, Janet Cherry, Nkosinathi Jikeka, Johann Maree, Tumi Malope, Ntsehiseng Nthejane, Sandla Nomvete, Ari Sitas, Malehoko Tshoaedi and Bianca Tame.