Labour Struggles in Southern Africa, 1919-1949 : New Perspectives on the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU)

Thirteen original chapters by major scholars examine different aspects of the ICU's record in the 1920s and 1930s, assessing its achievements and its failures in relation to the post-apartheid present.

In its syndicalist One Big Union approach to protecting workers' rights; its emphasis on economic freedoms; its internationalism; and its robust protection of women and migrant workers, the ICU challenged fundamentally the axioms, tactics, and programmes of rival organisations like the African National Congress.

More than simply an exercise in excavating a crucial chapter in struggle history, this volume demonstrates that the traditions and legacies of the ICU are of great relevance to contemporary Southern Africa.