The Missing Link? Western Communists as Mediators Between the East German FDGB, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and African Trade Unions in the Late 1950s and Early 1960s

IF 0.5 3区 历史学 Q1 HISTORY
Immanuel R. Harisch, E. Burton
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract In the interstices of Cold War rivalries and anti-colonial agitation in late 1950s Africa, African workers came into the focus of African nationalist politicians, Western leftists, colonial regimes and state socialist states alike. They were a small, but influential group, increasingly organized in trade unions and capable of bringing whole economies to a halt. European communists on both sides of the Iron Curtain saw these workers not only as part of an inceptive working class but also debated their role as a potential key force in global anti-capitalist revolution – if they had the right concepts. But how could trade union representatives, particularly those ones from Eastern Europe, actually get in touch with their African counterparts? Based on archival materials of the East German Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (FDGB), this article discusses East-West-South connections in labor education with a special emphasis on the role of Western trade union officials working for or affiliated to the communist-dominated World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Drawing on their international experience, personal networks and linguistic skills, French and British communists established and intensified links between African trade unions and WFTU affiliates like the FDGB in the 1950s and early 1960s. Their influence facilitated and shaped these East-South connections. First, through their networks in West Africa, Western communists enabled the WFTU and the FDGB to internationalize their concepts of trade union education and integrate it into African political structures. Secondly, we examine the African Workers’ University in Conakry, an East-West-South joint venture between the West African Union Générale des Travailleurs d'Afrique Noire (UGTAN) and the WFTU, where trade unionists from the entire African continent attended courses between 1960 and 1965 and where European communists broadened their horizons while often holding on to rigid views. Thirdly, the article examines how European trade union functionaries talked about African course participants behind closed doors—building on the transcripts from a 1963 WFTU gathering on education for African trade unionists. Emphasizing their insider knowledge, French communists with experience in African trade union education called for innovative pedagogical concepts including a more practice-related education which acknowledged the heterogeneous conditions in different countries. However, they also promoted Eurocentric stage theories and saw a need to “discipline” Africans. The article concludes that the cooperation between actors from East, West and South rested on some shared assumptions, but encounters also led to reconceptualizations and realizations of ideological and practical constraints in international labor education.
缺失的环节?20世纪50年代末和60年代初,西方共产主义者作为东德FDGB、世界工会联合会(WFTU)和非洲工会之间的调解人
摘要在20世纪50年代末非洲冷战对抗和反殖民运动的间隙,非洲工人成为非洲民族主义政治家、西方左派、殖民政权和国家社会主义国家的焦点。他们是一个规模较小但有影响力的团体,越来越多地在工会中组织起来,有能力使整个经济陷入停顿。铁幕两边的欧洲共产主义者不仅将这些工人视为先入为主的工人阶级的一部分,而且还就他们在全球反资本主义革命中的潜在关键力量进行了辩论——如果他们有正确的概念的话。但是,工会代表,特别是来自东欧的工会代表,怎么能真正与非洲同行取得联系呢?本文根据东德联邦快递公司(FDGB)的档案材料,讨论了劳动教育中的东西方联系,特别强调了为共产主义主导的世界工会联合会(WFTU)工作或隶属于该联合会的西方工会官员的作用。法国和英国共产主义者利用他们的国际经验、个人网络和语言技能,在20世纪50年代和60年代初建立并加强了非洲工会与世界工会联合会附属机构(如FDGB)之间的联系。他们的影响促进并塑造了这些东西方的联系。首先,通过他们在西非的网络,西方共产主义者使世界工会联合会和自由民主党能够将他们的工会教育概念国际化,并将其融入非洲的政治结构。其次,我们考察了位于科纳克里的非洲工人大学,这是西非黑非洲工会(UGTAN)和WFTU之间的一家东西南合资企业,来自整个非洲大陆的工会成员在1960年至1965年间参加了该校的课程,欧洲共产主义者在那里开阔了视野,同时经常坚持僵化的观点。第三,这篇文章考察了欧洲工会工作人员如何闭门谈论非洲课程参与者——以1963年世界工会联合会关于非洲工会主义者教育的会议记录为基础。具有非洲工会教育经验的法国共产主义者强调他们的内部知识,呼吁创新教学理念,包括更注重实践的教育,承认不同国家的不同条件。然而,他们也提倡以欧洲为中心的阶段理论,并认为有必要“管教”非洲人。文章得出结论,东西方和南方行为者之间的合作建立在一些共同的假设之上,但遭遇也导致了国际劳工教育中意识形态和实践约束的重新定义和实现。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.60
自引率
0.00%
发文量
10
期刊介绍: ILWCH has an international reputation for scholarly innovation and quality. It explores diverse topics from globalisation and workers’ rights to class and consumption, labour movements, class identities and cultures, unions, and working-class politics. ILWCH publishes original research, review essays, conference reports from around the world, and an acclaimed scholarly controversy section. Comparative and cross-disciplinary, the journal is of interest to scholars in history, sociology, political science, labor studies, global studies, and a wide range of other fields and disciplines. Published for International Labor and Working-Class History, Inc.
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