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continue to lose ground’ (Clawson, 2003: competition in the market, class-based
20). He concludes, ‘But if unions are able to unionism, with its emphasis on conflict, and
combine the new style and tactics with the social movement unionism, with its empha-
mass mobilization characteristic of unions at sis on cooperation between the workplace
their best, this would create an awesome and society. We suggested that in the First
political force whose potential is only now Great Transformation in the North, the iden-
being explored’ (Clawson, 2003: 23). tity of unions was class-based, while in the
Clawson argues that successful social move- Second Great Transformation it has increas-
ments have always been preceded by a string ingly become market-based. In the second
of failures. These ‘failures’ were testing the part of the chapter we identified an alterna-
limits and vulnerabilities of existing struc- tive union identity, social movement union-
tures, making possible a paradigm shift from ism which emerged in South Africa and
one system to another. Current struggles are Brazil in the 1970s and the 1980s.
‘the prehistory of the upsurge’ of mass civil However, social movement unions proved
disobedience against the injustice of neo- quite ephemeral. Seidman (1994: 274) con-
liberal restructuring (Clawson, 2003: 26). cludes her study by noting:
In this age of market politics and corporate
Over time, as states and employers recognize trade
dominance, to imagine an alternative mode of
unions and engage in collective bargaining, such
organizing the economy and society is also an labour movements may become institutionalized,
ethical choice, for this is not a condition that part of the regular pattern of labour relations in
only affects employed workers who might be their countries; social-movement unionism may
union members. Restructuring affects youth well be a transitory phase, as relatively privileged
workers create channels through which to articu-
in search of their first job, who discover the
late interests.
nature of the casualized job market; it affects
the families of the retrenched and the families In the cases of South Africa and Brazil,
whose well-being is affected by corporate SMU was indeed a transitory phase.
cost cutting; it affects farmers and owners of Following political change in both countries,
small businesses whose life work is under- unions resumed their traditional collective
mined through cheap imports. Despite their bargaining form, revealing that these unions
decline, unions remain the largest and strate- momentarily engaged social movements in
gically best organized of civil society actors. civil society for short-term advantage with-
Their location in the economy provides them out any change in the mode of workplace
with bargaining power that is greater than any organizing.
other civil society organization. Increasingly, Von Holdt (2003: 147) makes a similar
unions are also drawing on communities to point when he argues that one of the weak-
support their demands for social justice. They nesses of SMU analysis is to assume that its
therefore have the capacity to assume a new distinctiveness ‘lay in its political and com-
historical role; that of building a new social munity alliances’ thereby neglecting ‘to
movement against corporate restructuring and investigate whether it might also demonstrate
of visioning, debating and formulating a dem- distinctive workplace practices’. In relation
ocratic and humane alternative to unregulated to South Africa, this analysis had ‘placed the
liberalization. building of alliances with other social move-
ments and community organizations at the
center of the concept’ and had tended to
regard this as ‘an external alliance between
CONCLUDING REMARKS autonomous organizations and movements
and therefore did not investigate the impact
As we have shown, there is an unstable bal- of alliance politics on the union movement
ance among the bases of trade union identi- itself’ (Von Holdt 2003: 148). In his careful
ties – business unionism, with its focus on analysis of a single workplace, Highveld Steel