CLARA Progress report
The Changing Labour Relations in Asia programme (CLARA) aims to build a comparative understanding of labour relations in different parts of Asia which are undergoing diverse historical processes and experiences in terms of their national economies, their links with international markets, and the nature of state intervention. This understanding will be based on the promotion of inter-Asian co-operation and the co-operation between Asian and non-Asian institutions. Currently, this programme is supported by the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS), the main donor, and the International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam, the executing institution.By Ratna Saptari
After the Manila workshop held in October 1996 which aimed primarily to establish the foundations for a five-year collaborative research, steps have been taken to fulfil the various points agreed upon in the workshop. First of all, the institutional foundation has been given substance and form through the setting up of the management, the academic, and the executive committees. The management committee is represented by the IIAS, NIAS, and IISH and supervises the project's financial activities as well as fixing the annual budgets. Day-to-day substantive and administrative leadership is provided for by the executive committee which consists of; Prof. Jan Breman (CASA-UvA); Prof. Marcel van der Linden (IISH); Prof. Jan Lucassen (IISH, Amsterdam); Dr Ratna Saptari (IISH); Prof. Willem van Schendel (UvA/IISH); Prof. Thommy Svensson (NIAS). The academic committee which provides scholarly advice for the programme consists of Prof. Asef Bayat (the American University in Cairo); Prof. Marcel van der Linden (IISH), Prof. Otto van den Muijzenberg (UvA), Dr. Irene Norlund (NIAS), Dr Ratna Saptari (IISH), Dr Samita Sen (Univ. of Calcutta); and Dr Binayak Sen (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies).The papers from the workshop in Manila and other papers considered important for distribution in a pre-publication format are included in the CLARA Working Paper Series, three of which have come out (Prabhu Mohapatra, Andrew Wells, Samita Sen, Asian Labour. A Debate on Culture, Consciousness and Representation; no. 2 Jan Breman, Otto van den Muijzenberg, and Ben White, Labour Migration in Asia; no. 3 Jan Breman, A Study of Industrial Labour in Post-Colonial India.
Preparations have also been made in the setting up of panels and workshops. In principle, the programme itself subsidizes two workshops a year, however several panels within larger conferences are also being organized under the programme, as well as workshops that are externally funded or organized in collaboration with other institutions. If the workshops have been geared toward themes ('Economic Crisis and Labour'; 'Changing Labour Laws and Labour Regimes'; 'European and Asian Links in Labour Issues'; 'Women Workers in Industrializing Asia') that are more focused and specialized, the panels so far have been broader (Changing Labour Relations in Asia; Changing Labour Relations in South-East Asia) although still comparative and historically grounded. So far one seminar, two panels (during the ICAS and the EUROSEAS conference) and four workshops have been planned for this year. Although the priority is to have these workshops held in Asian countries (to ensure a large involvement of Asian scholars), some of these workshops will also be held in non-Asian countries because of the nature of the collaboration with the respective institution. The workshops for 1999 are still in preparation but these very probably, will be held in Shanghai and in Taiwan.
Dr Ratna Saptari
Programme Coordinator:
c/o International Institute of Social History
Cruquiusweg 31
1019 AT Amsterdam
Tel: +31-20-66.858.66
Fax: +31-20-66.541.81
E-mail: chlia@iisg.nl
URL : http://www.iisg.nl/asia