Abstract
In previous chapters, the system of government-interest group collaboration in Zimbabwe has been described as a form of societal corporatism. In Europe, societal-corporatist systems have been characterised by high-level bargaining or concertation between the authorities, employers’ associations and labour unions. In Zimbabwe, however, the influence of organised labour has always been weak by comparison with that of various producer organisations. Nevertheless, if by societal corporatism we mean a set of political institutions which structure relations between interest groups and the government, without making it a matter of definition which particular groups constitute the most significant actors within the system, then the label could be justifiably applied to the political economy in Zimbabwe. This would also be consistent with the way in which the concept of societal corporatism has been used in a portion of the literature. Gerhard Lembruch, for instance, wrote of ‘corporatism without labour’ in France and Japan.1 In this chapter, we shall determine the extent to which labour has been marginalised in the policy-making process in Zimbabwe.
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Notes
Gerhard Lembruch, ‘Concertation and the Structure of Corporatist Networks’, in John H. Goldthorpe, ed., Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984), pp. 60–80.
D.J. Murray, The Governmental System in Southern Rhodesia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), chapter 7.
Government of Zimbabwe, Labour and Economy: Report of the National Trade Unions Survey, Zimbabwe, 1984, Vol. I (Harare: Government Printer, 1987), p. 17.
Bruce Mitchell, ‘The State and the Workers Movement in Zimbabwe’, South African Labour Bulletin, 12 (August/September 1987), pp. 104–22 at p. 113.
Brian Wood, ‘Roots of Trade Union Weakness in Independent Zimbabwe, South African Labour Bulletin, 12 (August/September 1987), pp. 47–92.
Brian Wood, ‘Trade Union Organisation and the Working Class’, in Colin Stoneman, ed., Zimbabwe’s Prospects (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988), pp. 284–308 at p. 296, table 17.2.
Jeffrey Herbst, State Politics in Zimbabwe (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1990), pp. 203–5.
Lloyd Sachikonye, ‘State, Capital and Trade Unions’, in Ibbo Mandaza, ed., Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition 1980–1986 (Dakar: CODESRIA, 1986), pp. 243–73.
Albert Musarurwa, ‘The Labour Movement and the One-Party State Debate’, in Ibbo Mandaza and Lloyd Sachikonye, eds, The One Party State and Democracy: The Zimbabwe Debate (Harare: SAPES Trust, 1991), pp. 152–3.
Welshman Ncube, ‘The Post-Unity Period: Developments, Benefits and Problems’, in Canaan S. Banana, ed., Turmoil and Tenacity (Harare: College Press, 1989), pp. 326–7.
Government of Zimbabwe, A Framework for Economic Reform, 1991–1995 (Harare: Government Printer, January, 1991), p. 6.
Economist Intelligence Union, Zimbabwe, Malawi Country Report, no. 3, 1992 (London: EIU, 1992), p. 11.
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© 1995 Tor Skålnes
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Skålnes, T. (1995). The Marginalisation of Labour Unions. In: The Politics of Economic Reform in Zimbabwe. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13766-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13766-4_9
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