Demarcation Disputes Research Articles

The ACTU Congress of 1981

The first biennial congress held since R. J. Hawke relinquished the ACTU presidency in September 1980 opened in Sydney on Monday, 7 September, under the chairmanship of the new president, C. O. Dolan. The delegates, numbering 827, held a total of 1,110 votes.1 It was a notably quiet congress which, as one delegate put it on the Friday, left 'no blood on the floor'?in stark contrast with Mr. Hawke's last con gress.2 This, however, is not to say that the 1981 congress was either uneventful or unimportant. Probably of greatest obvious significance for the future of the ACTU were three matters involving its constitution and rules?the incorpora tion of the Council of Australian Government Employee Organizations, which removes the last really serious qualification of the ACTU's claim to act as the peak organisation of Australian unions in general; the 'restructuring' of the interstate executive, which had the effect of giving the extreme right an executive representation they have not had for at least a generation; and a rise in the ACTU's affiliation fee which gives the ACTU leadership an administrative support structure that would have been inconceivable barely a decade ago. On the side of policy, pre-congress media interest had centred on what were expected to be (and were in fact) the two most controversial issues, wages and abortion; and there was also a notable, because innovative, executive recommendation on international affairs. But there was another, less obvious reason for attaching importance to the Wages Policy congress adopted. It opens the way for the ACTU leadership, especially in the light of its expanded administrative resources, to enter directly into collective bargaining at the industry and occupational level on a far wider scale than before. There is a similar significance attaching to the policy adopted on Trade Union Organisation, which holds out the possibility that the ACTU may at last be gaining some purchase in the area of the demarcation dispute. Viewed in the perspective of the ACTU's internal politics, the congress was a triumph for the moderate (in trade union terms) centre grouping, formerly led by Mr. Hawke. On the wings, the position of the extreme left was weakened, and, as already mentioned, that of the extreme right was strengthened. The 1981 congress also has the dis tinction of being the first to be addressed by a leader of the federal Labor opposition.

Demarcation Disputes in British Shipbuilding Before 1914

Matters of labour organisation and control are clearly related to the progress of mechanisation. Economic growth results from increases in productivity brought about by management's combination of trained men and “skillful” machines in productive work. In isolation neither management, labour, nor capital can in themselves achieve sustained growth in the output of goods and services; the efficient co-ordination of a trained and disciplined workforce with equipment designed to perform specific activities is always required. In a period of changing technology such as the nineteenth century, however, the proper co-ordination may be difficult to achieve because the introduction of workers with new talents or machines which can perform multiple functions is apt to disturb existing work routines, upset prevailing cost relationships, and force management to reorganise entire sections of the productive process. This is particularly true if the various functions performed by new types of machinery have hitherto been assigned to more than one man or group of men.

Time Flies Like an Arrow

It is scarcely a historical accident that two anthropologists who have made major but quite separate contributions to our understanding of human thinking have also made significant analytical use of the concept of time, have written at length about the relation between anthropology and history, and have sought to delineate the position of anthropological study itself in the intellectual and political history of our own civilisation. Yet though they grapple with the same topics, they remain far apart. Witchcraft, oracles and magic among the Azande differs from La pensee sauvage in scope, method and conclusion, while Anthropology and history diverges from the Lepon inaugurale in concepts, objectives and intellectual affiliation. 'Nuer time-reckoning' perhaps lies closer to Levi-Strauss's work (cf i963 b: 289), but the gap is still large. What brings Evans-Pritchard and Levi-Strauss together is an interest in determining a set of contrasts and similarities dividing and uniting the two disciplines of history and anthropology; they are interested, as it were, in ensuring that the search for an efficient division of labour between the disciplines does not degenerate into a demarcation dispute (cf. Lefort I952: 99-IO4). Many of their professional colleagues have ignored this issue. There are certainly several contingent or historical reasons why these two writers in particular have concerned themselves with this inter-disciplinary relation, but part of the explanation lies, I think, in their common search for order or pattern in data that are, at first glance, characteristically disorderly, random and chaotic. Human thought, so we might imagine, is free of the constraints that systematise human action and, short of 1984, we are all free to think as we please, however coerced by culture and society we may be in our acts. And yet, so it seems, if we look carefully enough we can discover a pattern or structure in our thoughts that contrasts sharply with the apparently arbitrary and unpredictable sequence of historical events. EvansPritchard and Levi-Strauss respond to this paradox in complex but different ways, and the views of neither can be stated adequately in a few sentences. EvansPritchard, like many of his British colleagues, writes in the shadow of that afterdinner remark by a legal historian made nearly seventy years ago: '. . . by and by anthropology will have the choice between being history and being nothing'

Are we tribalistic? Demarcation disputes in Vuwani Vhembe District

Background: Vuwani community expressed their rejection of the municipal boundary demarcations which resulted in the formation of the Collins Chabane Municipality made-up of parts of Vuwani community and Malamulele community. A number of media reports had alluded that much of what is presented as demarcation disputes is largely fueled by tribalism (Baloyi 2018).Aim: Using relevant literature, this study aimed at examining claims of tribalism in Vuwani demarcation disputes. In so doing the study examines the claims of tribalism as a catalyst in the demarcation disputes in Vuwani.Setting: The area of study is Vuwani Vhembe District in South Africa. However lessons learnt are not limited to South Africa but contributes to the body of knowledge on demarcations in Africa and worldwide.Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted using in-depth and focus group discussion analysed through Territorial and Inclusion theories.Results: The findings revealed that clustering Vuwani demarcation disputes as being merely tribalistic is a narrow and dismissive approach to the amalgamation disputes in Vuwani. The findings further revealed the contributing factors to the demarcation disputes in Vuwani such as lack of adherence to good governance principle, lack of transparency etc. have led to many misconceptions which fueled the ongoing demarcation disputes.Conclusion: Adherence to good governance principles and policies is essential in redrawing of the spatial boundaries. Land, especially rural land is a sensitive commodity in Africa because of the effects of colonialism and apartheid. Thus, redrawing of spatial boundaries need to be carried out with extreme caution.