First published in 1997, this volume sets out to open a dialogue with the trade union movement and its social partners including civil society, political leaders and the scientific community. The authors, all of whom work closely with APADEP, have drawn on their personal experience and have been guided by a simple, yet flexible, theme: trends in the last few decades in their countries, with the emphasis on transition over the last five years. Part I consists of an overview of sub-Saharan Africa based on selected documentation. Part II is given over to an analysis of the specific situations obtaining in ten African countries in different geographical and language areas. Each case study provides its own democratisation scenario.
Can democracy only survive if it is participatory? Is participatory democracy a prerequisite for sustainable development? Are trade unions the most appropriate body through which such aims can be implemented? These critical questions are tackled in Gérard Kester's book, Trade Unions and Workplace Democracy in Africa, which applies an unparalleled depth of research to these issues as they impact African nations, including: Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Rigorously structured, it sets the background of the research and the underlying theory, before presenting the learning experiences within different countries and the the broad implications of the research findings for policy making on democratic participation.
Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africa’s diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africa’s multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continent’s long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.
First published in 1997, this volume sets out to open a dialogue with the trade union movement and its social partners including civil society, political leaders and the scientific community. The authors, all of whom work closely with APADEP, have drawn on their personal experience and have been guided by a simple, yet flexible, theme: trends in the last few decades in their countries, with the emphasis on transition over the last five years. Part I consists of an overview of sub-Saharan Africa based on selected documentation. Part II is given over to an analysis of the specific situations obtaining in ten African countries in different geographical and language areas. Each case study provides its own democratisation scenario.
This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.
We are currently witnessing some of the greatest challenges to democratic regimes since the 1930s, with democratic institutions losing ground in numerous countries throughout the world. At the same time organized labor has been under assault worldwide, with steep declines in union density rates. In this timely handbook, scholars in law, political science, history, and sociology explore the role of organized labor and the working class in the historical construction of democracy. They analyze recent patterns of democratic erosion, examining its relationship to the political weakening of organized labor and, in several cases, the political alliances forged by workers in contexts of nationalist or populist political mobilization. The volume breaks new ground in providing cross-regional perspectives on labor and democracy in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Beyond academia, this volume is essential reading for policymakers and practitioners concerned with the relationship between labor and democracy.
The first comprehensive and authoritative history of work and labour in Africa; a key text for all working on African Studies and Labour History worldwide.
Explores the elements that have shaped the particular political dynamics of the 14 former French colonies in west and equatorial Africa while allowing them to remain part of a unique francophone sociopolitical community.
Globalization, the return to a multi-party system of government, and the policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank have led to near revolutionary labor relations in Ghana. As Panford shows, these new social and economic forces have unleashed new and even contradictory labor policies and practices which are having profound social, political, and economic consequences. Panford examines how the Ghana Constitution of 1992 led for the first time to new workers' rights, including the right to affiliate with any local, national, or international union. In response to globalization and policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank, the Ghana government sought to resist worker demands for improved working and living conditions. The situation was worsened by the privatization of state-owned businesses and severe cuts in public employment. In this environment of tense labor relations, government hostility, and weak employment, Panford traces the ways workers are revitalizing unions and developing new sources of jobs and finances. These include relatively aggressive systematic organization of women, senior staff, and the informal/agricultural sector. One of the most important initiatives of the unions is the creation of a workers' trust to establish and finance worker-owned enterprises. The evidence presented by Panford indicates the failure of IMF and World Bank policies, and he calls for new and viable policy alternatives with emphasis on enhancing Ghana's global competitiveness and meeting genuine development needs. A thoughtful analysis that will be of interest to scholars and researchers involved with development and international economics, labor relations in the developing world and the increased involvement of international financial institutions.
