ABSTRACT
Three schools of thought prevail in the literature. The first is the traditional Marxist which anticipates a growth in labour strikes concomitant with the formation of a class consciousness that unites workers and increases their solidarity. These strikes should develop from being limited and individual to include the whole of industry and may lead to a general strike. The second school analyses workers' activism within the context of the rational choice theory which proclaims that all social phenomena are a consequence of individual behaviour which tends to be calculative, making decisions based on expected outcomes and weighing benefits against anticipated cost. In such circumstances preferences will be shaped by selfishness. The third school is the moral-economy theory, which attributes collective action by subordinated groups to a violation of norms and standards which they have become accustomed to and expect the elite to maintain.1 Likewise, studies of the relationship between state and workers fall either within the mainstream of pluralism and corporatism, which view union organisations in light of state decisions, or within traditional Marxist, communist and revolutionary ideologies.2
