Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: Union organizational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of COSATU members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU’s Alliance with the ANC and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, whilst internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with – and contesting - neo-liberal reforms, retaining and reenergizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work

Where the Heart Is? A Geographic Analysis of Working-class Cultures in Detroit Neighborhoods, 1953

Have left-wing politics spread from American workplaces to nearby communities where workers live? And, if so, under what conditions did this occur? We examine the class character of neighborhood-level voting in the 1952 presidential election and focus on how concentrations of workers from UAW Local 600, a left-wing union local, representing workers at the Ford River Rouge plant, influenced the result in Detroit, Michigan. Data come from the 1950 U.S. Census, precinct-level voting returns for the city of Detroit, and a 1953 traffic study which contains information on workplace and home locations. A spatial matrix of the census tracts in Detroit permits examination not only of the main effects of workplace on neighborhood, but also the effects of specific groups of workers and their political orientation on adjoining communities. We found, as hypothesized, that high concentrations of Ford Rouge workers in neighborhoods are significantly related to higher proportions of both Democratic and Progressive Party votes. Further, the adjacent communities with high concentrations of Ford Rouge workers influenced neighboring tracts to vote left. We also attempt to ascertain whether this effect is solely due to left-wing workers themselves voting left, or whether Rouge workers were able to exert a meaningful influence on other voters in their communities-- what we call a "context effect," for which we found evidence

Enhancing Gender Equity in Academia: Lessons from the ADVANCE Program

Women are underrepresented in U.S. tenure-track faculty positions, and institutional interventions are key to creating greater gender equality and accessing women’s potential. This study examines the effectiveness of one “transformational” intervention, the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation initiative, implemented at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in 2001. We compare data on women’s representation in faculty positions before and during the UCI ADVANCE Program (1993–2009) to that of seven other campuses in the University of California system, where no initiatives of this scale were implemented. Using descriptive figures, T tests, and regression analyses, we find that UCI had a higher percentage of women faculty and hired a greater percentage of women during ADVANCE years, but did not retain women at a greater rate. We describe the UCI ADVANCE program and its structure, including its “Equity Advisors,” who we suggest have been important in improving women’s representation among faculty at UCI

Where the Heart Is? A Geographic Analysis of Working-class Cultures in Detroit Neighborhoods, 1953

Have left-wing politics spread from American workplaces to nearby communities where workers live? And, if so, under what conditions did this occur? We examine the class character of neighborhood-level voting in the 1952 presidential election and focus on how concentrations of workers from UAW Local 600, a left-wing union local, representing workers at the Ford River Rouge plant, influenced the result in Detroit, Michigan. Data come from the 1950 U.S. Census, precinct-level voting returns for the city of Detroit, and a 1953 traffic study which contains information on workplace and home locations. A spatial matrix of the census tracts in Detroit permits examination not only of the main effects of workplace on neighborhood, but also the effects of specific groups of workers and their political orientation on adjoining communities. We found, as hypothesized, that high concentrations of Ford Rouge workers in neighborhoods are significantly related to higher proportions of both Democratic and Progressive Party votes. Further, the adjacent communities with high concentrations of Ford Rouge workers influenced neighboring tracts to vote left. We also attempt to ascertain whether this effect is solely due to left-wing workers themselves voting left, or whether Rouge workers were able to exert a meaningful influence on other voters in their communities-- what we call a "context effect," for which we found evidence