Volume: Volume 2(1) - 1998

Article type: Editorial

LDD is privileged to publish in this issue a selection of papers emanating from a study of co-determinist structures at different levels of South African society, commissioned in mid-1996 by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a research institute associated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

Dr Glenn Adler, co-ordinator of that project, has kindly agreed to assist in the production of this issue in the capacity of guest editor. 'Co-determination' goes to the root of the democracy-building project as well as the developmental challenges facing South Africa. The term is used here to describe a participative mode of deCision-making involving all parties (often with adversarial interests) to a process, rather than an exercise of power by those at the top of organisational hierarchies. Necessarily, it implies the empowerment, in terms of knowledge and skill, of those who had previously been excluded from decision-making. Its developmental significance lies in broadening the pool of human resources, and reinforcing the co-operative effort, that socio-economic progress ultimately depends on.

Click to view and download article