Month: October 2014

Joe Foster, 1982, “The Workers Struggle: where does FOSATU stand?”

Deeply ambiguous statement of policy by the “workerist” Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU), delivered by general-secretary Joe Foster. Scanned from original FOSATU publication. FOSATU later helped form COSATU in 1985, and major COSATU unions like NUMSA were originally FOSATU unions.

 

PDF below (click link)

Fosatu – The Workers Struggle – where does FOSATU stand [OCR]

COSATU (1987), “Political Economy: South Africa in Crisis” [scan]

Classic analysis of crisis of South African apartheid-capitalism from 1987.  Good introduction to C20 South Africa, class perspective, great graphics … and a surprising amount remains applicable today. A great example of 1980s South African radical analysis and popular publication. Produced by the then-two year old Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

PDF here

COSATU – Political Economy – South Africa in Crisis (1987) [OCR]

 

Sam Dolgoff, “A Critique of Marxism” [scan, OCR]

Despite simplifying Marxism a bit (there are rather more debates and tensions in Marxist theory that Dolgoff admits), and underplaying (for polemical purpose, presumably) the many areas where anarchism/ syndicalism and Marxism overlap, a powerful and lucid critique — by the veteran anarcho-syndicalist.

PDF here Dolgoff – A Critique of Marxism [OCR]

 

 

Sam Dolgoff, “Third World Nationalism and the State” [scan, OCR]

Scathing anarcho-syndicalist critique of post-colonial elites … their statism, militarism, plunder, crushing of unions and their personality cults.  Focus on Africa. Includes commentary on Kwame Nkrumah’s regime, which many African nationalists still venerate (attributing all the ills to “CIA plots”).

Dolgoff – Third World Nationalism and the State [OCR]