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Having a voice: the quest for democratic policing in Southern Africa

Having a voice: the quest for democratic policing in Southern Africa
Having a voice: the quest for democratic policing in Southern Africa
Purpose: Efforts by police organisations to unionise and to increase their social and labour rights is an international phenomenon, and one that is becoming more vigorous in the Southern African region. However, many governments are wary of police unions and limit their rights, or refuse to recognise them at all. This paper aims to discuss the issues involved.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as e-mail correspondence, with police unionists from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and the USA.

Findings: The efforts of the unions involved gave impetus to the formation of the International Council of Police Representative Associations (ICPRA), in September 2006. Two of ICPRA's aims are to assist and advise police unions all over the world and to provide the international police union movement with a voice for influencing policing futures. In South Africa, the Police and Civil Rights Unions is assisting police in the subregion and has become a symbol of what is possible for police even in repressive states.

Originality/value: The paper illustrates how, in a rapidly changing police labour environment, police unions have the capacity to confront existing (undemocratic) occupational cultures, to promote organisational accord and to forge positive reform.
labour, police, policing, social action, south africa, trade unions
0953-4814
451-459
Marks, Monique
2c76ce61-6fe7-4e6a-9889-4ef0705e7d18
Fleming, Jenny
61449384-ccab-40b3-b494-0852c956ca19
Marks, Monique
2c76ce61-6fe7-4e6a-9889-4ef0705e7d18
Fleming, Jenny
61449384-ccab-40b3-b494-0852c956ca19

Marks, Monique and Fleming, Jenny (2008) Having a voice: the quest for democratic policing in Southern Africa. [in special issue: Worker identity, social isolation and absence of community: challenges for the future] Journal of Organizational Change Management, 21 (4), 451-459. (doi:10.1108/09534810810884849).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose: Efforts by police organisations to unionise and to increase their social and labour rights is an international phenomenon, and one that is becoming more vigorous in the Southern African region. However, many governments are wary of police unions and limit their rights, or refuse to recognise them at all. This paper aims to discuss the issues involved.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as e-mail correspondence, with police unionists from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and the USA.

Findings: The efforts of the unions involved gave impetus to the formation of the International Council of Police Representative Associations (ICPRA), in September 2006. Two of ICPRA's aims are to assist and advise police unions all over the world and to provide the international police union movement with a voice for influencing policing futures. In South Africa, the Police and Civil Rights Unions is assisting police in the subregion and has become a symbol of what is possible for police even in repressive states.

Originality/value: The paper illustrates how, in a rapidly changing police labour environment, police unions have the capacity to confront existing (undemocratic) occupational cultures, to promote organisational accord and to forge positive reform.

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More information

Published date: 2008
Keywords: labour, police, policing, social action, south africa, trade unions
Organisations: Social Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 338259
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/338259
ISSN: 0953-4814
PURE UUID: 21396795-2c2a-45c3-8664-35341244be80
ORCID for Jenny Fleming: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7913-3345

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 May 2012 10:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:41

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Contributors

Author: Monique Marks
Author: Jenny Fleming ORCID iD

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