‘I Just Wasn’t Made for This Time’: U.S. Labor in the Age of Authoritarianism

Although radical right parties are known to be particularly successful among young voters, detailed analyses for the young are scarce. Moreover, we lack knowledge about psychological predispositions and their possible impact on radical right voting. This article explores, if and to what extent young male voters’ support for the radical right can be explained by personality traits and ideological attitude dimensions, in particular social dominance orientation (SDO) and right wing authoritarianism (RWA). For young men in Austria we are able to show that high openness to experience and high agreeableness reduce SDO and anti-immigrant attitudes, and thus the propensity to vote for the radical right FPO. Interestingly, RWA does not contribute to the explanation of radical right voting in our study. Keywords: radical right – personality traits – right wing authoritarianism (RWA) – social dominance orientation (SDO) – Austria

The Evolution of Legitimation, Cooptation and Repression in Authoritarian Regimes: Singapore and Ethiopia in Comparative Perspective

A labor movement is a movement of human beings seeking dignity and equality; the process of establishing a better society for human beings. It is meaningful to study how a country's labor movement has rapidly de veloped, because it can suggest some important factors through which not only the development of a labor movement but also the establishment of a better society can be expedited. Since 1948 (Chun Pyung's1 elimination), the Korean labor movement had been weak and politically dependent. Labor unions had always been controlled by dictatorial governments from the Rhee regime (1948-1960) through the Park regime (1961-1979) to the Chun regime (1979-1987). Throughout these three governments, the FKTU (the Federation of Korean Trade Unions) was unfailingly loyal to the dictatorship. However, in the late 1980s the workers not only economically confronted the capitalists for the improvement of their working conditions, but also politically challenged the authoritarian government for the establishment of a truly democratic society and a democratically oriented economy. Before 1987, labor strikes slightly increased in number from 88 in 1982 to 276 in 1986. However, the number of strikes increased explosively from 276 in 1986 to 3,749 in 1987. As a result of the active labor movement, the level of real wages also increased dramatically since 1987. It rose from 6.4 percent in 1986 to 17.2 percent in 1987, 13.5 percent in 1988, and 17.5 percent in 1989. The 1987 revolt also contributed significantly to the regime transition from an authoritarian government toward a semi-democratic one. What has made for such a rapid development of radical labor move ment? Several factors could be considered. Much has been written about

The Brazilian labor movement played an instrumental role in the demise of Brazil's authoritarian regime. As one of the few highly organized and institutionalized social actors in Brazil in the late 1970s, the labor movement led massive strikes, demonstrations, and rallies protesting the military government's policies and demanding a return to democracy.' This article examines how organized labor in Brazil articulated and defended its interests in the period of political reconstruction and democratization. How did the labor movement act? Why did it act as it did? And what are the consequences for the labor movement and the consolidation of democracy? To study these questions, this article applies two approaches derived from the literature on transitions to democracy: the coup poker and multilayered chess game analogies. While both approaches are useful in establishing broad parameters for analysis of the strategies available to labor movements and the impact of those strategies on such movements and the emerging democratic system, I show with the Brazilian case that they ignore several motivating factors and possible outcomes of those strategies. And, in analyzing the Brazilian case, I suggest that, although certain political, economic, and organizational constraints on the working class are greater during political transitions than under a stable democratic regime, the labor movement's strategies and the results of those strategies are very similar during both periods.

The Revue International Anarchiste's World Survey (1924–1925)

Reviewed by: Leverage of the Weak: Labor and Environmental Movements in Taiwan and South Korea by Hwa-Jen Liu Jennifer Jihye Chun Hwa-Jen Liu, Leverage of the Weak: Labor and Environmental Movements in Taiwan and South Korea (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 2015) Leverage of the Weak begins with a provocative puzzle. Despite their many similarities in terms of size, population density, and emphasis on export-led industrialization in the latter decades of the 20th century, South Korea and Taiwan have starkly contrasting trajectories when it comes to labour and environmental movements. In South Korea, the labour movement was the early riser, waging militant strikes against injustice and repression at the hands of authoritarian developmental state regimes in the 1970s and 1980s. The environmental movement did not flourish until industrial trade unions secured the institutional basis of their movement power in the late 1980s and 1990s amidst popular struggles for democratization. In contrast, the early decades of state-led industrialization in Taiwan catalyzed a robust environmental movement led by farmers and fishers who waged frequent, repeated, and widespread protests against land and water contamination due to industrial waste pollution. Labour disputes remained unorganized and isolated until the late 1980s when workers in large enterprises began waging large strikes, in part, to challenge the long-standing influence of the party-state in trade union affairs. What explains these “reverse movement sequences” in Taiwan and South Korea, two countries that Liu describes as “perfect twins” of the post-war developmental order? Interrogating “movement sequences” – that is, when and how different movements come into being – is well-trodden terrain in the social movement literature. However, most studies focus on a single movement in multiple places or multiple movements in a single place. Liu’s study breaks new empirical ground by examining multiple movements in different national contexts, utilizing an impressive range of comparative time series protest data, in-depth interviews, and archival sources. Liu’s study also advances new theoretical ground by challenging the assumption that labour movements necessarily precede environmental movements, an occurrence that is based upon the particular histories of early industrialization in Europe. Building upon Karl Polanyi’s arguments about the rise of social protectionist movements against capitalism, [End Page 378] Liu argues that different movements emerged at different periods and in different forms in Taiwan and South Korea to challenge the corrosive effects of marketization and commercialization. In addition, she demonstrates that the way in which early-riser movements consolidated their power against capital and the state had profound legacies for future movements when they invoked similar grievances and tactics, albeit for different aims and constituencies. By showing how the power-maximization strategies of early-riser movements matter for shaping the terrain of future struggles, Liu brilliantly moves from a capital-centred understanding of Polanyi’s double movement – one that views social protectionist movements as mere reactions to deepening capitalist commodification – to a movement-centred analysis that views struggles to protect the dignity of human and ecological life as a major obstacle to unfettered capital accumulation. To discern exactly how and under what conditions social movements shape the dynamics of change, Liu develops a sophisticated analytics of power that connects Gramsci ’s framework about different levels of political struggle (e.g. economic-corporate, economic class, and hegemonic) to the cultivation of distinct forms of movement power. Leverage – or what Liu describes as positional power, enables movement actors to secure concessions in the context of unequal yet interdependent power relations. Ideological power enables movement actors to use the power of ideas to undermine hegemonic discourses. Given these differences, Liu points out that labour movements are more likely to wage initial struggles at the economic-corporate and economic class levels – in the form of demands for wage increases and union rights – to secure gains against more powerful opponents; whereas environmental movements rely on the media and intellectuals to challenge common sense notions about pollution and public safety to win public support for their struggles. While these forms of power result in the cultivation of important strategic resources, be they intellectual expertise or rank-and-file militancy, they also create sobering dilemmas for early-riser movements as they are...

Benjamin Kohl and Linda Farthing’s translation of Felix Muruchi’s testimonio , or oral history, From the Mines to the Streets: A Bolivian Activist’s Life , provides a rich and accessible text on Bolivian history, society, and culture since the National Revolution of 1952, told through the eyes of a Bolivian tin miner and labor activist. Coming on the heels of a number of books that focused on labor movements and politics in twentieth-century Bolivia, From the Mines to the Streets (which was recently translated as Minero con poder de dinamita. La vida de un activista boliviano , Plural Editores, La Paz, 2009), portrays the daily life and personal struggles of miners against exploitative mining companies and repressive governments. Muruchi describes his life and the Bolivian labor movement during the dictatorships that ruled from 1964 until the early 1980s, and the challenges that miners faced during the neoliberal era since the 1980s and under the current administration of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president.

Fil: Nassif, Silvia Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Filosofia y Letras. Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas Dr. Ramon Leoni Pinto; Argentina

El artículo analiza las posiciones y el accionar del Partido Comunista en la Argentina entre 1955 y 1959, período marcado por la agudización de la lucha de clases tras el golpe de Estado al peronismo. Se estudia el modo en que el PC actuó en el contexto de la dictadura de la “Revolución Libertadora” y el primer año del gobierno radical de Arturo Frondizi, examinando la relación entre la estrategia política, la intervención sindical y su postura antiterrorista ante el crecimiento de la violencia política.

In the context of the deepening economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe from the late 1990s, the labour movement emerged as a key focus of both opposition mobilization and state repression. In the political narratives that emerged, the labour movement was caught between conflicting positions. On the one hand, the authoritarian nationalist and selective redistribution politics of the ruling party cast the movement as an agent of ‘regime change’. On the other, and in addition to its desire for a more equitable social contract on the economy, the labour movement cast itself as in pursuit of its long-held goals of political autonomy, civic participation, human rights, and broader democratic accountability of the state. In its pursuit of these goals, the trade unions faced major hurdles. These included persistent state coercion, the decimation of their membership pursuant to the rapid informalization of the economy from the early 2000s, the depletion of funding, internal divisions, and questions around their continued relevance as workers lost confidence in a predictable vision of the future. As in much of the global economy, trade unions in Zimbabwe had to confront the growing indeterminacy of their organizational future. These questions remain a central challenge for one of the great organizational legacies of the anti-colonial struggles.

This project investigates the trajectory of anarchist militant Adelino de Pinho through his experiences and reflections on education and labor unions in Brazil. The research covers the first three decades of the twentieth century up until 1937, when the Estado Novo -an authoritarian government that overtook the democratic state for the eight following years -suppressed revolutionary and social movements. The influence of Brazilian anarchism on education and the formation of classical anarchist thought are part of this debate. Yet, the main focus is to demonstrate how anarchism influenced the Brazilian labor movement and how education was central to the agenda of the congresses promoted by the Brazilian Labor Confederation. Finally, the research hones into Adelino de Pinho and his views on education, the Russian Revolution and Syndicalism.

The collapse of the Soviet regime and the subsequent end of the Cold War signaled a shift in the international environment away from the previous one: a new era in which the West was the winner and—at least initially—that the liberal democracy seemed to be the only game in town. Consequently, many closed or hegemonic authoritarian governments felt the pressure to either leave the political arena or to reform their way of ruling and their institutions. In this effort, they introduced multiparty systems and elections in various degrees.

The erosion of media freedom is a growing phenomenon. Worldwide, journalists face obstruction, hostility, and violence as powerful political and private actors exercise a repressive influence on the media system. Citing historical and contemporary cases from different geographic regions, this chapter reviews the relationship between media freedom and political systems and the circumstances that lead governments to exercise control over the media. It examines how structural shifts in the digital media environment in conjunction with the resurgence of authoritarian governments and the emergence of post-truth communication have rendered news media vulnerable to capture and control. The chapter discusses major mechanisms for media control including ownership structures, financial and regulatory pressures, and the harassment of journalists. Finally, the chapter assesses the key issues for the future of media freedom and potential countermeasures for media control and capture.

In the 1940s Spain was ruled by a right-wing, dictatorial regime, with an ideology very close to Fascism. After three years of civil war, the victors were able to treat the country as a tabula rasa, establishing a new political and social system that set the permanent resolution of social conflict in favour of businessmen and landowners as its main priority. Labour policies were fundamental to this mission and vertical trade unions were its principal tool. However, they failed to garner workers’ support. The opposition used international diplomacy, guerrilla activity and trade-union activism to fight Francoism. The first two activities ended in failure, while the third, despite facing a number of difficulties, showed itself to be the most fruitful path to follow in 1951.

A different approach Yet the 40-day strike at Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT) that ended in early May brought about a 9.8 percent pay increase, the first for the hundreds of strikers in more than a decade, and a promise to improve conditions that had workers doing 12-hour-plus shifts without breaks. Lee says shifts sometimes extended to 24, 48 and even 72 hours. It was historical in the sense that we were able to hang on for 40 days. Since 1949, this was the longest strike. It is a miracle. We don’t have a strike fund. We are not like the AFL-CIO ([n the United States]. Originally I didn’t think we could last, then I made a move to raise funds from the public. We were able to raise HK$8.9 million (€870,000) for 400-plus workers. I was shocked about the public support. No one believed that such appalling working conditions existed in the docks, in the terminals . So shameful. I think it really did get a lot of sympathy from the public. Secondly, I think it was because of Mr. Li Ka-shing (the Hong Kong billionaire who controls more than 70 percent of the city’s port traffic), the richest man in Asia. People feel it is a classic David and Goliath case. Isn’t the outcome of the dockworkers’ strike an indication that workers can assert their rights in modern-day Hong Kong? I would say we were only partially successful because we could not even get union recognition , a collective bargaining agreement. We got partial recognition because HIT cannot escape meeting with us. On the final day, they said they won’t go back to the bargaining table. They just gave us a unilateral wage increase of 9.8 percent and promised improvements that had already been offered at the bargaining table regarding lunch breaks, working hours. Two confederations played very different hands on behalf of dockworkers in a recent wages dispute INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 20 Volume 20 Issue 3 2013 You were very active in both the dockworkers’ strike and the June 4 pro-democracy vigil. Were they, in any way, related events? I’ve always been with the labour movement, and with an independent labour movement in Hong Kong, you deal with worker issues and the issue of democracy. If you don’t vote, workers’ rights cannot be protected. My starting point is both workers’ rights and the democratic rights of workers. Are such rights threatened in a Hong Kong that may enjoy relative autonomy but which has been part of the People’s Republic of China since the handover from Great Britain in 1997? You have to deal with the Communist Party regime. After the handover, they had a coalition with big business. They want big business to be on their side. Their concern is overwhelmingly stability . They want to cooperate with the capitalists, and that the capitalists should cooperate with them. That is the political deal: the capitalists support the Communist regime, and the Communist regime supports the capitalists. Workers, of course, are always the ones that sacrifice. Could you say the colonial model established for Hong Kong under British rule, which enshrined capitalism, works quite well for Communist leaders in China, where state-run capitalism has become the order? They find the colonial government [model] really works well for them. They themselves have the same mentality as a colonial government. As a oneparty -rule, authoritarian regime, they have no problem taking over that, no problem continuing to suppress workers’ rights. They believe Hong Kong needs stability. That means you don’t have workers going on strike to make problems for the capitalists. JOSEPH B. ATKINS is a veteran journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of Covering for the Bosses: Labor and the Southern Press. His blog is http://www.laborsouth .blogspot.com. INTERVIEW ❐ LEE CHEUK-YAN, HKCTU Lee Cheuk-yan, is Chair of the Hong Kong Labour Party, and Chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. He is also General Secretary of the Hong Kong...