La formation des syndicalistes africaines au sein des mouvements syndicaux inter/nationaux: Une histoire sous contrainte

Immanuel R. Harisch

doi:10.51185/journals/rhca.2024.060704

Authors

Immanuel R. Harisch University of Vienna (Austria) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8521-0933

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51185/journals/rhca.2024.060704

Keywords:

African women trade unionists, Union education, Cold War, Patriarchy, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, World Federation of Trade Unions

Abstract

This article examines the agency and impact of African women in their capacities as trade union officials, course participants, educators, and labour activists in the 1950s and 1960s. Drawing on several union and party archives, the research comparatively focuses on the educational activities of the ICFTU, the WFTU, and their national affiliates, as well as correspondence with African labour leaders. It argues that the upsurge in union education and mobilities has not benefited women. Across the ideological divide of Cold War trade unionism, women’s overall enrolment rates in various trade union colleges remained low. Aspiring women trade union officials, such as Kenya’s Hilda Otieno, Nigeria’s Agnes Adenowo, and North Rhodesia’s Joyce Chanda, struggled against a patchwork of patriarchies in the organized labour movement and beyond. The article shows that male dominance was maintained within organized labour, regardless of the different political-ideological orientations and backgrounds of the male actors involved.

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