Comprehending strike action: the South African experience c.1950-1990 and the theoretical implications thereof
- Authors: Wood, Geoffrey Thomas
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Strikes and lockouts -- South Africa -- History Industrial relations -- South Africa -- History Labor unions -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3319 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003107
- Description: Regular strike action has become a central characteristic of the South African industrial relations system. Whilst in the 1950s strikes were mostly isolated outbursts of relatively short duration, strikes in the 1980s were challenges of unprecedented duration and intensity. It is argued that despite this dramatic change, reflecting a series of discontinuities in both the political and economic arenas, strike action in South Africa does follow distinct patterns, and can be ascribed to a combination of identifiable causes. Principal causal factors include wage aspirations, past experiences and the subjective interpretation thereof, and the role of the union movement. Contingent factors include the prevailing political climate, industrial relations legislation, the amount of information opposing sides possess of their adversaries' intentions as well as spatial issues, such as the internal dynamics of individual communities. Partially as a result of South Africa's political transformation, the late 1980s and early 1990s saw further changes in the industrial relations environment. Reflecting these developments, it is argued that a new type of trade unionism has developed, "coterminous unionism" . This will have far-reaching implications for the nature of industrial conflict. However, it falls fully within the theoretical parameters outlined in this thesis. Despite significant developments in social theory in the 1980s and 1990s, there have been few attempts accordingly to update theories of strike action. One of the objectives of this thesis has been to attempt such an update. It is hoped that the constructs developed will shed light on a widely prevalent form of social conflict, assist in the analysis of future outbreaks, and enable the identification of those situations where a high propensity to engage in strike action may exist.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
- Authors: Wood, Geoffrey Thomas
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Strikes and lockouts -- South Africa -- History Industrial relations -- South Africa -- History Labor unions -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3319 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003107
- Description: Regular strike action has become a central characteristic of the South African industrial relations system. Whilst in the 1950s strikes were mostly isolated outbursts of relatively short duration, strikes in the 1980s were challenges of unprecedented duration and intensity. It is argued that despite this dramatic change, reflecting a series of discontinuities in both the political and economic arenas, strike action in South Africa does follow distinct patterns, and can be ascribed to a combination of identifiable causes. Principal causal factors include wage aspirations, past experiences and the subjective interpretation thereof, and the role of the union movement. Contingent factors include the prevailing political climate, industrial relations legislation, the amount of information opposing sides possess of their adversaries' intentions as well as spatial issues, such as the internal dynamics of individual communities. Partially as a result of South Africa's political transformation, the late 1980s and early 1990s saw further changes in the industrial relations environment. Reflecting these developments, it is argued that a new type of trade unionism has developed, "coterminous unionism" . This will have far-reaching implications for the nature of industrial conflict. However, it falls fully within the theoretical parameters outlined in this thesis. Despite significant developments in social theory in the 1980s and 1990s, there have been few attempts accordingly to update theories of strike action. One of the objectives of this thesis has been to attempt such an update. It is hoped that the constructs developed will shed light on a widely prevalent form of social conflict, assist in the analysis of future outbreaks, and enable the identification of those situations where a high propensity to engage in strike action may exist.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
The work of the Reverend James Cameron of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society from 1829 to 1835
- Authors: Van Heerden, Gary Paul
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Cameron, James, 1800-1875 Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Methodist Church of Southern Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1245 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009726
- Description: The name James Cameron is not a familiar one. Despite being one of the missionary pioneers of Methodism in southern Africa, serving for more than forty-six years in various districts and being elected as chairman of two of these districts, very few people have ever heard of James Cameron. Barnabas Shaw says of Cameron that he "excelled in preaching the great truths of the gospel, and applying them to the heart of sinners".¹ Whiteside describes Cameron as a "remarkable man ... well read in most things".² W.B. Boyce pays Cameron an even greater tribute: In my day, as a preacher and as a theologian, he was unequalled in South Africa; and I do not think that he was second in these respects to any of his brethren in England.³ Notwithstanding the high esteem in which he was held by prominent peers, Cameron is mentioned only in passing in a few secondary sources, and to date has not been the subject of academic research. The reason for this is not clear. He was well educated, read and wrote extensively, and most of his correspondence has been preserved. Cameron's Journal is very well written, containing some beautiful poetic sections. It is a personal record of a missionary coping with peculiar and difficult circumstances, and a record of how determination, courage and faith enabled Cameron to overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Cameron's recording of his struggles help fill out our understanding of missionaries and their tasks and problems in the nineteenth century. I believe that so important a figure in South African Methodism should be examined and deserves a definitive study. The aim of this thesis has been to provide a reference to his work in the western Cape, possibly to form a basis for closer historical scrutiny. ¹ Shaw 1840:232 ² Whiteside 1906:374 ³ Boyce 1874:179-80.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
- Authors: Van Heerden, Gary Paul
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Cameron, James, 1800-1875 Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Methodist Church of Southern Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1245 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009726
- Description: The name James Cameron is not a familiar one. Despite being one of the missionary pioneers of Methodism in southern Africa, serving for more than forty-six years in various districts and being elected as chairman of two of these districts, very few people have ever heard of James Cameron. Barnabas Shaw says of Cameron that he "excelled in preaching the great truths of the gospel, and applying them to the heart of sinners".¹ Whiteside describes Cameron as a "remarkable man ... well read in most things".² W.B. Boyce pays Cameron an even greater tribute: In my day, as a preacher and as a theologian, he was unequalled in South Africa; and I do not think that he was second in these respects to any of his brethren in England.³ Notwithstanding the high esteem in which he was held by prominent peers, Cameron is mentioned only in passing in a few secondary sources, and to date has not been the subject of academic research. The reason for this is not clear. He was well educated, read and wrote extensively, and most of his correspondence has been preserved. Cameron's Journal is very well written, containing some beautiful poetic sections. It is a personal record of a missionary coping with peculiar and difficult circumstances, and a record of how determination, courage and faith enabled Cameron to overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Cameron's recording of his struggles help fill out our understanding of missionaries and their tasks and problems in the nineteenth century. I believe that so important a figure in South African Methodism should be examined and deserves a definitive study. The aim of this thesis has been to provide a reference to his work in the western Cape, possibly to form a basis for closer historical scrutiny. ¹ Shaw 1840:232 ² Whiteside 1906:374 ³ Boyce 1874:179-80.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
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