Peter Waterman Papers

India

Papers received in 1998: general correspondence 1971-1978; correspondence and other documents concerning his seminars on Nigeria at Birmingham University 1967-1973, his activities as coordinator, lecturer and field trip organiser at the ISS 1973-1981, 1989 and as editor of the Newsletter of International Labour Studies (NILS) 1978-1993; correspondence, notes and documentation on his research projects and subsequent publications and contributions to symposia on industrial relations, trade unions and labour in India 1951-1988, Nigeria 1944-1984, Peru 1974-1989, the Philippines 1976-1991 and Spain 1966-1993; documents of ISS-colleague Jos Hilhorst concerning advisory activities on the fifth 5-year development plan and regional development plans in Indonesia 1979-1992. Accrual 2012: files on the research project 'Women and international communication in Latin America' and other files on the position of women 1973-1993; files on the project 'Trade unions 2000', resulting in Ronaldo Munck and Peter Waterman, Labour Worldwide in the Era of Globalization: Alternative Union Models in the New World Order (Basingstoke, 1999) 1995-1999; files on the Workers' movement in Russia 1993-1995, the conference 'Seoul international labor media '97' 1997, the European Social Forum workshop on 'commons and communities' in Florence, Italy 2002, a workshop organized by the University of Kassel, Germany, and Waterman's paper 'Union Organisations, Social Movements and the Augean Stables of Global Governance' 2006; file on the conference 'Impact of Global Production Systems on Trade Union Strategies', organized by ILO/ISS, in The Hague 2006; 2 CD's with the autobiography of Peter Waterman 2010. Accrual 2014: correspondence with and press cuttings on the University of Durban-Westville 1994-1996; files on the 'Globalisation, communication, solidarity' project of Peter Waterman at the University of Durban-Westville in South Africa 1994; pamphlets and press cuttings on the struggle of the dockworkers in Durban 1994; publications of the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU), the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) and the South African Labour Education Project (SALEP) 1976-1996; papers and other documents on the trade unions and social-economic policy debates in South Africa 1990-1994. Accrual 2017: analog and digital material, the digital part includes the autobiography by Peter Waterman (last version 2010). Short version: Born in London 1936, died in The Hague 16 June 2017; worked as journalist in Prague for the International Union of Students 1955-1958 and in London 1960-1961; studied and specialized in labor history at Ruskin College and Oxford University 1961-1965; labor education officer in English-speaking Africa for the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Prague 1965-1969; history teacher at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria 1970-1972; researcher and senior lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, the Netherlands 1972-1998; dissertation on dock worker relations in Lagos, Nigeria, until the 1970s, 1983; studies on union and labor rights strategies of Spanish dock workers in the 1980s; studies on labor, national and international social movements in India, South Africa and Latin America; after his retirement in 1998 active for the World Social Forum (WSF) and the global justice and solidarity movement more generally. See the obituaries by Laurence Cox in theguardian and in Interface , a journal for and about social movements and the obituary at the website of the IIRE . Extended version: Peter Waterman was born in London (Great Britain) in 1936. He qualified as a journalist in 1955 and worked as such in Prague 1955-1958 for the International Union of Students (IUS) and in London 1960-1961. He studied and specialised on labour history at Ruskin College (Social and Economic Studies) and Oxford University (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) 1961-1965. From 1965 to 1969 he worked for the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Prague as a labour education officer for and in English-speaking Africa, ran a national trade union course in Nigeria in 1968 for the Nigerian Trade Union Congress (NTUC) , used the opportunity to do research in Nigeria and to return to England, where he took a Master's degree in West African Studies at the University of Birmingham. He was a lecturer on world contemporary history at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (Nigeria), 1970-1972. In 1972 Waterman became a researcher and senior lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague (The Netherlands) on unions, social movements and internationalism, first in Labour Studies Programmes, then until 1998 in the Po litics of Alternative Development Strategies Programme. His Ph.D. (Non-Western Studies, Nijmegen 1983) was on the political and theoretical significance of portworker and dockworker relations in Lagos (Nigeria) until the 1970s. He did studies on union and labour rights strategies by Spanish dockworkers in European context in the 1980s and has also worked in and on labour, national and international social movements in India, South Africa and Latin America. Waterman has written academic papers, books and articles, and been published in several languages. He was founder, editor and publisher of the Newsletter of International Labour Studies 1978-1990, publication of which was one activity of the International Labour Education, Research and Information (ILERI) Foundation . Since 1985 he has been researching new internationalisms like the renewal of labour movement in relation to new global communication methods, networks and a global economy. In the 1990s Waterman was involved in a number of experimental websites, to be found by searching the web for Global Solidarity Dialogue (GSD, GloSoDia) and relating to new global social and solidarity movements seeking alternatives to capitalist and neo-liberal globalization. He became a scholar-activist and contributed to the activities of the progressive research and educational centre International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and, since opting for early retirement in 1998, he increased his academic and political involvement in activities for the World Social Forum (WSF) and the global justice and solidarity movement more generally. Bibliographies of his work can be found on the internet.