dc.contributor.advisor |
Montgomerie, D |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Bodman, Ryan |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2013-03-03T22:19:28Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2013 |
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dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/20115 |
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dc.description |
Full text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Between 1984 and the early 1990s, trade union membership in New Zealand fell by almost 50% as neo-liberal economic change marginalised the movement. Underpinning this decline was an image of organised labour, developed throughout the preceding period, in which the trade union movement was contrasted with broader societal concerns. In examining the decline of organised labour, scholars and activists have focussed on the tangible impacts of neo-liberal change but have paid little attention to the preceding period. This thesis seeks to broaden scholarly consideration of the trade union movement’s demise by considering organised labour’s alienation amidst the decline of the Keynesian economic system. By engaging with media and political representations of trade unions, alongside oral history interviews, this project charts the movement’s shift, between 1968 and 1984, from a central player in the nation’s economic status quo, to a movement routinely presented as a hindrance to the fulfilment of national interests. Amidst post-war economic growth labour, capital and the state operated in a broadly cooperative framework with a collective focus on expanding the nation’s economy. In this context, the dominant current of organised labour played a central role in the maintenance of economic and industrial stability. However, when post-war economic growth came to an end in late 1973, tensions emerged. The structural bias of the state and the commercial media forced the interests of capital centre stage, while organised labour was ostracised from the national interest rubric. In exposing the changing representations of organised labour, this thesis considers the real world implications of the imagery, along with the power dynamics reflected therein. The trade union movement’s response to economic change is considered, along with the popular adoption of the image that contrasted the movement – and in particular its leaders – with national interests. The impact of this period is then considered in light of subsequent events as the rhetorical logic of organised labour’s alienation served to legitimise the movement’s marginalisation amidst neoliberal change. |
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dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
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dc.relation.ispartof |
Masters Thesis - University of Auckland |
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dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
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dc.rights |
Restricted Item. Available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland. |
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dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ |
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dc.title |
'The Public Have Had a Gutsful and So Have We': The Alienation of Organised Labour in New Zealand, 1968-1984 |
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dc.type |
Thesis |
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thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
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thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
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dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: The Author |
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pubs.elements-id |
374053 |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2013-03-04 |
en |
dc.identifier.wikidata |
Q112899536 |
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