Ethnicity, popular democratic movements and labour in Malaysia

Abstract

We use framing theory to examine how activists and trade unions have framed labour's political agenda in Malaysia. A polity grounded in ethnicity continues to hinder the formation of cross-ethnic collective worker identities and labour politics. However, inclusive popular democratising movements have strengthened in recent years, providing a favourable context for greater emphasis on non-ethnic political action by trade unions. The latter have shifted in this direction, adopting elements of the popular movement's 'human rights' internationalism. Thus, the democratic movement's frame 2 | P a g e influenced that of the trade unions, with implications for framing theory.

Theoretical and empirical links between trade unions and democracy

“…The recent democratization attempts in Asia and Africa were mostly presented as spontaneous upheavals of the civil society against military regimes, religious fundamentalism and post-colonial ideologies (Dabashi, 2012;Howard and Hussain, 2013;Stepan and Linz, 2013) rather than as expression of class struggle. While there is evidence of labour activism, from Malaysia (Croucher and Miles, 2018) to the Arab Spring (Alexander, 2010), its role in the democratization process is still difficult to interpret -as Regeni's pioneering research was trying to do. At the same time, China challenged theories of labour and democracy, as labour conflicts in a country so enthusiastically embracing capitalism have been so far insulated from the political sphere (Pringle and Clarke, 2011).…”

Advocacy for women migrant workers in Malaysia through an intersectionality lens

“…There have been small signs of change recently, however, which holds promise for advocacy for women migrant workers. In relation to the labour movement, inclusive popular democratising movements have strengthened in recent years, providing a favourable context for greater emphasis on non-ethnic political action by trade unions (Croucher and Miles, 2018). In relation to women's rights movements, campaigns against gender-based violence have found universal support across ethnic (and by effect, language) and religious divides, given that all women were potential victims of violence (Izharuddin, 2013).…”

The Power of Disruptive Protest in Driving Reform: Explaining the Failed case of Labour in Malaysia

“…But labour's advances beyond this were limited. It occupied only a subordinate place within the wider oppositional movement (Croucher and Miles, 2016). Solidaristic links between itself and the wider movement were not of the kind which Piven asserts would mobilise disruptive power.…”

“…The MTUC has focused on helping migrant workers, framing their struggles in a new light (Croucher and Miles, 2016). The MTUC (2016) has stressed that migrant workers were equal to local workers and therefore also deserving of equal protections under the law.…”