Organizational democracy as boundary dilemma: Brazil's New Unionism Movement, 1979–1995
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| Udgivet i: | ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (2003) |
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
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| Online adgang: | Citation/Abstract Full Text - PDF |
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| Resumen: | This dissertation examines the evolution of internal democracy in Brazil's New Unionism Movement, long an exemplar of deeply democratic “social movement unionism.” Founded as a heterogeneous mix of labor groupings in opposition to military rule, the country's transition to democracy had a profound impact on the movement's internal political processes. The study argues, somewhat paradoxically, that the New Unionism's adaptation to new opportunities for external participation in a democratizing polity worked to undermine its founding commitments to internal democracy. A critical shift from cooperative, democratic inter-factional relations in the early 1980s to polarized, de-democratizing relations in the early 1990s took place in the context of a fundamental strategic dilemma: whether to subordinate internal democracy to the pursuit of a constructive role within the wider polity, or to prioritize the democratic resolution of differences within the movement community at the cost of reduced political efficacy in the “outside” world. The analytical framework centers on the changing nature of factional competition. The latter years of military rule, when all factions were politically marginalized in opposition to a common enemy, were conducive to an inclusionary, consensus-oriented mode of decision making. Factional rivalries intensified, however, once the democratic regime transition was well underway. The majority faction's expanding participation in the larger democratic regime—specifically, its adaptation to open, legitimate governments, to competitive party politics, to a gate-keeping media system, and to labor-demobilizing economic policies—induced the moderation of its political discourse and action. Mainstream integration thereby exacerbated strategic and ideological divisions between moderate and radical factions and also differentially empowered these factions. These internal dynamics in turn worked to diminish pluralist contestation and activist participation within the movement. The deliberative quality of contestation declined as the majority faction, responding to the democratic polity's material and symbolic incentives to muzzle and disqualify minority dissent, turned to exclusionary, majoritarian decision making. In this context, activists lost space for real voice within the movement as intensified inter-factional conflict had the effect of rigidifying hierarchy and discipline within the factions, expanding factions' reliance on top-down mobilization through material rewards, and curtailing the power of grassroots decision-making bodies. |
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| ISBN: | 9780496690541 |
| Fuente: | ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global |