A world to win, a hell to lose : the Industrial Workers of the World in early twentieth century New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Politics at Massey University, New Zealand
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Date
2012
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Massey University
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Abstract
In the early twentieth century the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were
influential in a series of disputes between labour and employers in New
Zealand, culminating in what has become to be known as the Great strike of
1913. Although influential, little has been written about the ideology of the IWW
in New Zealand and how it was adapted for New Zealand. An appraisal of their
organisation, and the impact they had on their members and followers, and
other organisations has also not been explored greatly in existing research.
This research begins with a brief illustration of the rise of IWW ideas in New
Zealand, the formation of a number of branches of the IWW, and the groupʼs
relationship with the existing organisations in the New Zealand labour
movement at the time.
The next section discusses the use of existing social movement theories to
study an organisation such as the IWW, and highlights the need to use a
specially devised framework, such as that drawn up by Fitzgerald and Rodgers
(2000), to analyse a Radical Social Movement Organisation.
Using the Radical Social Movement Organisation framework devised by
Fitzgerald and Rodgers, this research aims to gain an understanding of the
organisation, ideology, tactics, and methods of communication of the IWW, and
how they differed from the contemporaneous bodies of the New Zealand labour
movement.
In the final section, different ideas of what constitutes success in terms of the
aims of a social movement are examined, and used to assess the impact and
influence of the organisation in New Zealand.
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Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Great strike 1913, New Zealand, Industrial Workers of hte World (IWW) in New Zealand, Labour movement, New Zealand, Social movement, New Zealand, Labour disputes