Organise or die? : democracy and leadership in South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers / Raphaël Botiveau.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Botiveau, Raphaël.

Contributor:

Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor movement.

South Africa.

National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa).

Labor unions--South Africa.

Labor unions.

Labor movement--South Africa.

Physical Description:

xvi, 344 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Johannesburg : WITS University Press, 2017.

Summary:

"Organise or Die? Leadership in South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers from Apartheid to Democracy is the first in-depth study of one of the leading trade unions in the country. Founded in 1982, the trade union played a key role in the struggle against white minority rule, before turning into a central protagonist of the ruling Tripartite Alliance after apartheid. Deftly navigating through workerist, social movement and political terrains that shape the South African labour landscape, this book sheds light on the path that led to the unprecedented 2012 Marikana massacre, the dissolution of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) federation and to fractures within the African National Congress (ANC) itself. Working with the notions of organisational agency and strategic bureaucratisation, Raphael Botiveau shows how the founding leadership of NUM built their union's structures with a view to mirror those of the multinational mining companies NUM faced. Good leadership proved key to the union's success in recruiting and uniting mineworkers and NUM became an impressive school for union and political cadres, producing a number of South Africa's top post-apartheid leaders. An incisive analysis of leadership styles and strategies shows how the fragile balance between an increasingly distant leadership and an increasingly militant membership gradually broke down. Botiveau provides a compelling narrative of NUM's powerful history and the legacy of its leadership. It will appeal to a broad readership - including journalists, students and social sciences scholars - interested in South Africa's contemporary politics and labour history."--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction: South African trade unions in apartheid and democracy

Part I. Organisational agency in union bureaucracy and politics. Local weaknesses solved through centralisation

The power of head office: building national bureaucracy

Doing union politics: the branches as idealised seat of union power

The regions as antechambers of national power

Part II. Leading mineworkers: a charterist leadership school. The burden of leadership

The learning organisation

Trajectories of union leaders and NUM leadership ideals

Taking control of NUM: the rise of the communist faction

Conclusion: from bureaucratic organisation to bureaucratic politics.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-327) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781776142040

1776142047

OCLC:

1012518782

Publisher Number:

99975434284