Please be advised that the site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, September 1, 2024, from 08:00 to 18:00, and again on Monday, September 2, 2024, from 08:00 to 09:00. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
dc.contributor.author | Mmadi, Mpho Manoagae | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-02-28T13:11:13Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2019 | |
dc.description.abstract | The existing literature on labour movements notes how trade unions have been weakened in recent years. This observable pattern is not unique to South Africa; arguably, this decline represents a global phenomenon characterised by the disintegration of erstwhile militant labour movements. In the case of South Africa, the post-apartheid neoliberal labour regime has fragmented the militant social-movement unionism (SMU) of the 1980s almost to the point of extinction. Despite this trend, various studies have detailed pockets of revival and resistance by workers spread across a variety of sectors and continents. My article seeks to contribute to this literature by drawing on the case study of Mamelodi Train Sector (MTS). MTS was formed in 2001 as a ‘mobilising structure’, aligned to the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners. Using the notion of space as a theoretical tool, I attempt to understand MTS and the space it organises – the train. MTS utilises the travel time spent going to and from work to offer legislative education to largely unorganised/non-unionised workers. In addition to legislative education, MTS members (self-styled comrades) discuss community issues and matters pertaining to the ANC’s tripartite alliance as an attempt to foster a particular kind of identity politics. The data collected reveals that, among other contributions, MTS offers hope and a sense of solidarity to those workers without workplace representation. The comradely sense of belonging, buttressed by a common identity, potentially mitigates the impact of workplace fragmentation – experienced by the majority of workers in South Africa. Organising on the train points to one missing link in our current efforts to understand workers’ agency – the geography of transport in South Africa and its related possibilities as a site of revival. With a specific focus on the MTS as a case study, I suggest that the train, as a by-product of apartheid spatiality, represents a strategic location for worker organisation in South Africa. | en_ZA |
dc.description.department | Sociology | en_ZA |
dc.description.embargo | 2021-05-06 | |
dc.description.librarian | hj2020 | en_ZA |
dc.description.sponsorship | The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences–Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (NIHSS–CODESRIA). | en_ZA |
dc.description.uri | https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjss20 | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation | Mpho Mmadi (2019) Mzabalazo On the Move: Organising on a South African Commuter Train, Journal of Southern African Studies, 45:5, 895-909, DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2019.1684711. | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.issn | 0305-7070 (print) | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1465-3893 (online) | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.1080/03057070.2019.1684711 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/73612 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
dc.publisher | Routledge | en_ZA |
dc.rights | © 2019 The Editorial Board of the Journal of Southern African Studies. This is an electronic version of an article published in Journal of Southern African Studies, 45:5, 895-909, DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2019.1684711. Journal of Southern African Studies is available online at : https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjss20. | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Mamelodi Train Sector (MTS) | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Social-movement unionism (SMU) | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Comrade | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Socio-spatial dialectic | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Space | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Comrades’ coach | en_ZA |
dc.subject | South Africa (SA) | en_ZA |
dc.title | Mzabalazo on the move : organising on a South African commuter train | en_ZA |
dc.type | Postprint Article | en_ZA |