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IMF - World Bank and Labor's Burdens in Africa Ghana's Experience
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Kwamina Panford
Book Code: C6186
ISBN: 0-275-96186-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-96186-2
200 pages, tables
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 8/30/2001
List Price: $102.95 (UK Sterling Price: £59.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • [T]his book raises important questions about the status of so-called "ecosoc" rights in Ghana-those economic, social, and cultural rights mandated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-thereby exposing the policy dilemma facing IMF/World Bank technocrats of how to balance the achievement of monetary stability with human rights considerations....Panford's book is both a reminder of this forgotten policy agenda and a contribution to attempts to correct the flaw. Current efforts to promote poverty alleviation programs in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, though a mere palliative, vindicate the conclusions of this book.
    —African Studies Reviews     December 2002
Description: Globalization, the return to a multi-party system of government, and the policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank have led to near revolutionary labor relations in Ghana. As Panford shows, these new social and economic forces have unleashed new and even contradictory labor policies and practices which are having profound social, political, and economic consequences. Panford examines how the Ghana Constitution of 1992 led for the first time to new workers' rights, including the right to affiliate with any local, national, or international union. In response to globalization and policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank, the Ghana government sought to resist worker demands for improved working and living conditions. The situation was worsened by the privatization of state-owned businesses and severe cuts in public employment. In this environment of tense labor relations, government hostility, and weak employment, Panford traces the ways workers are revitalizing unions and developing new sources of jobs and finances. These include relatively aggressive systematic organization of women, senior staff, and the informal/agricultural sector. One of the most important initiatives of the unions is the creation of a workers' trust to establish and finance worker-owned enterprises. The evidence presented by Panford indicates the failure of IMF and World Bank policies, and he calls for new and viable policy alternatives with emphasis on enhancing Ghana's global competitiveness and meeting genuine development needs. A thoughtful analysis that will be of interest to scholars and researchers involved with development and international economics, labor relations in the developing world and the increased involvement of international financial institutions.
Table of Contents:
  • Globalization and Ghana's Industrial Relations at the End of the Twentieth Century
  • Political Changes and Industrial Relations in Ghana: 1986-2000
  • Major Industrial Relations Institutions in Ghana: Some Trends and Recent Developments
  • Globalization and Structural Adjustment: An Assessment of Ghana's Economic Competitiveness
  • Labor and the Triple Challenges of Globalization, Structural Adjustment and the Transition to Multi-party Democracy in Ghana
  • Ghana's Global Competitiveness: Industrial Relations and Structural Adjustment Policy Challenges in the Twenty-First Century
  • Ghana's SAP and Global Competitiveness: A Final Assessment
  • Appendices
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Index
LC Card Number: 2001021172
LCC Class: HD8832
Dewey Class: 331
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