[DEBATE] : Global Labour University conference

[Devan Pillay]

www.global-labour-university.org

Labour and the

Challenges of Development

 

** Labour, growth and development - what kind of state-society

linkages are necessary to avoid 'enclave', 'uneconomic'

growth and development?

** Labour, development and trade - what role does trade play in

undermining or enhancing inclusive development?

 

Call for Papers

International Workshop

at the

University of the Witwatersrand

Johannesburg, South Africa

1-3 April 2007

 

Workshop background

The Global Labour University www.global-labour-university.org is a network
of trade unions and

universities that aims at facilitating research, debate and qualification
programmes in order to address

global labour issues. At its annual workshop in 2007 trade unionists and
scholars are invited to

present papers and discuss the challenges for organised labour as outlined
in the two lead questions,

which are elaborated on below.

 

Unions around the world operate in a complex and rapidly changing
environment. In response to the

industrial revolution of the 19th century organised labour fought for
legislation and welfare provisions to

make the ruthless dynamic of a 'free' market compatible with a democratic
and inclusive society.

Within many Northern industrialised countries this struggle has been
remarkably successful during the

second half of the twentieth century, with many achieving near full
employment and a substantial

social wage. However, much of the Southern developing (or majority) world
experienced low or at best

'enclave' development, where a few cosmopolitan elites enjoy the fruits of
'development', while the

majority experience massive unemployment, informalised work, low wages and
poor working

conditions. For many, this experience of under-development is a direct
result of colonialism and neocolonialism,

which arguably was a necessary condition for the development of the North

 

At the beginning of the 21st century the new wave of 'neo-liberal'
globalisation has shifted jobs from

the North to parts of the South. While on the one hand this has boosted
employment in parts of the

South (especially Asia), it has prevented states from spreading the benefits
of economic development

to all their citizens. In the North it is eroding the regulatory capacity of
the nation state and the capacity

of trade unions to defend social achievements. Most countries in the world
now experience diminishing

labour rights and welfare provisions, informalisation of employment
relations and growing inequality

and poverty. Indeed, on a global scale, the rich have become richer and the
poor poorer

 

1) Labour, growth and development

"In many international cases, the developmental state has been characterised
by a high

degree of integration between business and government. The South African
developmental

state has different advantages and challenges. While we seek to engage
private capital

strategically, in South Africa the developmental state needs to be
buttressed and guided by

a mass-based, democratic liberation movement in a context in which the
economy is still

dominated by a developed, but largely white, capitalist class." (paragraph
20, ANC National

General Council, July 2005, Consolidated Report on Sectoral Strategies).

 

While South Africa has unique challenges, this statement arguably applies to
much of the developing

world, particularly the rest of Africa and Latin America, where foreign
multinational corporations

dominate key sectors of the economy. The key question is: what kind of
developmental state is

needed to achieve inclusive development, and what is the role of organised
labour as a transformative

actor in relation to the state, capital and the rest of civil society?

 

Where the state has been mainly embedded with an emerging indigenous
industrial bourgeoisie,

labour and other civil society actors have often been excluded or
suppressed. Even if organised labour

is incorporated, the question remains whether development that is
subordinated to economic growth,

in a context of extensive labour-saving technology and fierce global
competition, will achieve inclusive

or enclave development. Will a different paradigm, that of a democratic
developmental state that is

embedded primarily with organised labour and other civil society actors -
such that growth is

subordinated to development (or human needs) - achieve holistic, balanced
and inclusive

development?

 

Papers are invited that:

a) interrogate whether democracy and active civil society participation
(including in particular a

mobilised and organised labour movement that straddles the formal/informal
and trade union/new

social movement divisions) is necessary for inclusive socio-economic
development and an effective

'developmental state'; and/or

b) analyse the relationship between the state, society and the market -
including the view that the

nurturing of indigenous entrepreneurs is in the long-term interests of
labour and development; and/or

c) analyse the notions of 'development', 'economic growth' and 'uneconomic
growth', with reference to

experiences of 'enclave' development that benefit a small urban elite linked
to globalised networks of

privilege, while the majority reside in urban and rural squalor; and/or

d) develop new proposals for balanced, sustainable development that creates
quality jobs and

enhances the welfare of all citizens, without unduly harming the natural
environment.

 

2) Labour, trade and development

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) aims at the progressive elimination of
all barriers to trade in

goods and services. The imbalance of past agreements has led to severe
implications for

development in developing countries. While the advocates of neoliberal
globalisation argue that "free"

trade enhances growth and reduces poverty, the experiences of many countries
in the developing and

developed world is that often this is not the case. In a context of
depleting energy reserves, many now

also question whether accelerated globalised trade is sustainable, given the
huge amounts of energy

involved in transporting goods across the world.

 

Developing countries point to double standards by developed countries. They
argue that, on the one

hand, developed countries pressurize developing countries to open their
markets, while on the other

hand these same countries protect their own markets through non-tariff
barriers and subsidised

agriculture. This prevents developing countries from building their trading
capacity, increases their

vulnerability, and would make many of them further dependent on aid, and
thus more vulnerable to

pressure by developed countries and agencies such as the WTO, World Bank and
International

Monetary Fund (IMF). In the current context, developing countries are
particularly concerned about

the developmental impact of concessions they are being asked to make in
Non-Agricultural Market

Access (NAMA) negotiations and under the General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS); in

addition, they are concerned about the impact on agricultural livelihoods if
multinational agribusiness

seizes all of the gains availible through the Agriculture negotiations.

 

Papers are invited that:

a) analyse the industrial, employment and development (including
environmental) policy implications

of liberalization through trade deals such as NAMA and GATS; and/or

b) critically address the social and economic arguments around respect for
core labour standards in

relation to trade and socio-economic development; and/or

c) identify effective strategies to communicate these social and economic
arguments as well as

successful policies based on the use of these arguments; and/or

d) consider the different approaches to the negative effects of neo-liberal
globalisation (particularly the

migration of jobs and investment) from the perspectives of workers in the
North and those in the

South, and ways to overcome perceived differences (such as over alleged
'protectionism') and to

maximise global solidarity among workers; and/or

e) analyse whether the stress on jobs, as opposed to alternative livelihood
strategies, is the most

appropriate labour approach to trade and development debates; and/or

f) develop proposals to build the capacity of less well-resourced developing
country union movements

to respond to the employment and development effects of liberalising trade
and investment.

 

Format

The workshop will bring together an international group of scholars and
trade unionists. It will feature

working groups, paper presentations, and panel discussions involving both
academics and trade

unionists. Papers will be presented mainly in small interactive working
groups to allow for in-depth

discussion and development of ideas for possible future research and
cooperation. A selected number

of papers will be published in the 2007 GLU Yearbook.

 

Proposals for papers should be sent by 1 November 2006 to:

Prof Devan Pillay,

Department of Sociology

University of the Witwatersrand

Pvt Bag 3, Wits 2050

South Africa

pillayd at social.wits.ac.za

Fax: +27 11 339 8163

 

The proposal should be a one page abstract that

1) gives the name, address and institutional affiliation of the author/s;

2) outlines the main idea; and

3) indicates what methodology will be used.

 

 

 

 



<html><body><font face = "verdana" size = "0.8" color = "navy">This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorized signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary.</font></body></html>