The Making of an African Working Class

Pnina Werbner

Description

It is now 50 years since E.P. Thompson published his classic, The Making of the English Working Class. The Making of an African Working Class follows Thompson in exploring the formation of working class identity among low-paid African workers. In arguing for a radical public anthropology of worker identity, the book seeks to analyse the cultural, legal, ideological and experiential dimensions of labour activism often neglected in other labour studies.



Pnina Werbner shows that by fusing cosmopolitan and local popular cultural forms of protest, unionists have created a distinctive, vernacular way of being a worker in Botswana: one that does not deny workers' roots at home or in the countryside, while being cognisant of a wider world of cosmopolitan labour rights. The assertion of working class dignity, honour and respect, Pnina argues, is a powerful motivating force for manual workers.



Against legal-sceptical approaches, The Making of an African Working Class argues that in challenging the government - their employer - in court, manual workers' protests and mobilisation are deeply embedded in ethics, social justice and the law.

List of Figures

List of Abbreviations

Series Preface

Preface

1. Introduction

2. A Labour Elite? Strategising Women and the Spectre of Unemployment

3. Women, Leadership and the Dignity of Labour

4. Lekgotla la Babereki, the Court of the Workers: The Trade Union as Public Forum

5. 'Legitimate Expectations': Ethics, Law and Labour Justice in the 1991 Strike

6. The Politics of Infiltration: Factionalism and Party Politics

7. This Land Is Our Land: The 2005 Manual Workers' Union Grand Tour of Botswana

8. Solidarity Forever: Mobilising the Trade Union Movement in Prayer and Protest

9. Winning against the Odds: Speaking Truth to Power and Dilemmas of Charismatic Leadership

10. 'The Mother of All Strikes’: Popular Protest Culture and Vernacular Cosmopolitanism in the Public Service Unions' Strike, 2011

11. The Political and Moral Economy of the 2011 Strike: Public Rhetoric, Conflict and Policy

12. Legal Mobilisation, Legal Scepticism and the Politics of Public Sector Unions

13. Concluding Remarks: Class Identity, Dignity and the Agency of Labour in Botswana

Appendix

Notes

References

Index

Sujets

• Droit et juridique
• África
• Social class
• Labour economics
• Employment
• Africa
• Law
• Labor
• Labour
• Botswana

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 juillet 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783711789
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 18 Mo

Extrait

The Making of an African Working Class

Anthropology, Culture and Society

Series Editors: Professor Vered Amit, Concordia University and Professor Christina Garsten, Stockholm University

Claiming Individuality: The Cultural Politics of Distinction E DITEDBY V ERED A MIT AND N OEL D YCK

Community, Cosmopolitanism and the Problem of Human Commonality V ERED A MITAND N IGEL R APPORT

Home Spaces, Street Styles: Contesting Power and Identity in a South African City L ESLIE J. B ANK

In Foreign Fields: The Politics and Experiences of Transnational Sport Migration T HOMAS F. C ARTER Dream Zones: Anticipating Capitalism and Development in India J AMIE C ROSS A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security E DITEDBY T HOMAS E RIKSEN , E LLEN B ALAND O SCAR S ALEMINK A History of Anthropology Second Edition T HOMAS H YLLAND E RIKSEN AND F INN S IVERT N IELSEN Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives Third Edition T HOMAS H YLLAND E RIKSEN Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology Third Edition T HOMAS H YLLAND E RIKSEN What Is Anthropology? T HOMAS H YLLAND E RIKSEN

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The Making of an African Working Class

Politics, Law, and Cultural Protest in the Manual Workers’ Union of Botswana

Pnina Werbner

First published 2014 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Pnina Werbner 2014

The right of Pnina Werbner to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 0 7453 3496 7 Hardback ISBN 978 0 7453 3495 0 Paperback ISBN 978 1 7837 1178 9 PDF eBook ISBN 978 1 7837 1180 2 Kindle eBook ISBN 978 1 7837 1179 6 EPUB eBook

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.

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Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Text design by Melanie Patrick Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America

For Ben and Donna

List of Figures List of Abbreviations Series Preface Preface

Contents

viii ix xi xii

 1 Introduction 1  2 A Labour Elite? Strategising Women and the Spectre of Unemployment 19  3 Women, Leadership and the Dignity of Labour 39  4Lekgotla la Babereki, the Court of the Workers: The Trade Union as Public Forum 60  5 ‘Legitimate Expectations’: Ethics, Law and Labour Justice in the 1991 Strike 75  6 The Politics of Infiltration: Factionalism and Party Politics 96  7 This Land Is Our Land: The 2005 Manual Workers’ Union Grand Tour of Botswana 113  8 Solidarity Forever: Mobilising the Trade Union Movement in Prayer and Protest 131  9 Winning Against the Odds: Speaking Truth to Power and Dilemmas of Charismatic Leadership 150 10 ‘The Mother of All Strikes’: Popular Protest Culture and Vernacular Cosmopolitanism in the Public Service Unions’ Strike, 2011 169 11 The Political and Moral Economy of the 2011 Strike: Public Rhetoric, Conflict and Policy 206 12 Legal Mobilisation, Legal Scepticism and the Politics of Public Sector Unions 225 13 Concluding Remarks: Class Identity, Dignity and the Agency of Labour in Botswana 253 Appendix Further Grievance Cases Settled by Lilian MaMoshe 257

Notes References Index

260 277 294

1.1 2.1 2.2 4.1

4.2 7.1 8.1 9.1 10.1 10.2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 3

.3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1 .2 .3 .1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

List of Figures

Map of Botswana 13 Monthly destitute rations at village shopkeeper’s store 25 The Manual Workers’ Union Women’s Wing (2005) 25 The old Manual Workers’ Union headquarters in Gaborone until 2013 63 The General Council meeting 63 Map of the Manual Workers’ Union’s grand tour of Botswana 115 Assembling for the demonstration 137 Johnson Motshwarakgole addressing the strikers 152 Under themorulatree 174 Carrying branches from the grounds of Gaborone Secondary School 174 Parasols 177 Rangers choir 177 Confrontation between MaBakwena and Johnson Motshwarakgole 180 Bruising battle 180 Khama smashes a car 180 Khama, ‘I’m gonna squeeze ’em’ 182 Khama tied to a tree 182 Masisi 182 Dancing outside the mall 184 Government news blackout 187 State-owned media poodles of government 187 President Khama at a village campfire 187 Advocate Chilisa at the Industrial Court 188 Unionists at the Industrial Court 188 The Industrial Court orders workers back to work 190 Doctor bins court order 190 Nurse, You’re fired! 190 When disaster ‘strikes’ 192 Thin and fat men before and after the strike 192 Ministerial flight 192 Peace meeting 197 Facing the police 201 Police in riot gear 201 Police banner 204 The new High Court and Court of Appeal 232 Advocates at the Court of Appeal 240 Lawyers in the Court of Appeal 240 National Executive Committee meeting 255

ANC BALA BCC BCSA BCP BCWIS BDP BMD BNF BFTU BIAC BLLAWU BMWU BOCCIM

BOGOWU BOFEPUSU BONEPWA BOPEU BOSETU BTU BTV BULGASA BURS CEDA CKGR COSATU DCEC DIS DMSAC DPSM GSS HIES HLCC ILO IMF ISPAAD ITUC LIMID LRC

List of Abbreviations

African National Congress (South Africa) Botswana Association of Local Authorities Botswana Council of Churches Botswana Civil Servants’ Association Botswana Congress Party Botswana Core Welfare Indicators Survey Botswana Democratic Party Botswana Movement for Democracy Botswana National Front Botswana Federation of Trade Unions Botswana Institute of Administration and Commerce Botswana Land Board and Local Authorities Workers’ Union Botswana Mine Workers’ Union Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower Botswana Government Workers’ Union Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions Botswana Network of People Living with Aids Botswana Public Employees’ Union Botswana Secondary School Teachers’ Union Botswana Teachers’ Union Botswana Television Botswana Unified Local Government Service Association Botswana Unified Revenue Service Citizens’ Entrepreneurial Development Agency Central Kalahari Game Reserve Congress of South African Trade Unions Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Directorate of Intelligence and Security District Multi-sectoral Aids Committee Directorate of Public Service Management Gaborone Secondary School Household Income and Expenditure Survey High Level Consultative Council International Labour Organisation International Monetary Fund Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture International Trade Union Confederation Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development Legal Reform Centre (South Africa)