File(s) under permanent embargo
Oil unions and democracy in post-Saddam Iraq
Since the invasion of 2003, a complex array of political, religious and ethno-sectarian factions have formed civil society movements; uncensored news has been consumed across the nation; ordinary citizens have taken to the streets to protest key government decisions; and various local councils have been formed, deliberating on key decisions facing their immediate communities. Given this context, this paper focuses on the specific case of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), Iraq’s largest and most powerful independent workers union. The IFOU has repeatedly taken the Iraqi government to task over their poor pay and the dangerous nature of their work, as well as the government’s initial kowtowing to US plans to privatise the entire Iraqi oil sector. To do this, the IFOU have utilised a variety of very democratic mechanisms including peaceful strikes and protests, media campaigns and political lobbying. Such moves have met with mixed results in Baghdad – at times the central government has pandered to the requests of IFOU, but it has also gone as far as issuing arrest warrants for its senior members. The IFOU therefore serve as an interesting example of public power in Iraq and may well pose one of the greatest challenges to rising authoritarianism there.
History
Event
Australasian Political Studies Association. Conference (2012 : Hobart, Tas.)Pagination
718 - 735Publisher
Australasian Political Studies AssociationLocation
Hobart, Tas.Place of publication
[Hobart, Tas.]Start date
2012-09-24End date
2012-09-26Language
engNotes
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in Deakin Research Online. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.auPublication classification
E1 Full written paper - refereedCopyright notice
2012, Australasian Political Studies AssociationEditor/Contributor(s)
R Eccleston, N Sageman, F GrayTitle of proceedings
APSA 2012 : The Refereed Proceedings of the 2012 Australian Political Studies Association ConferenceUsage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedLicence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC