Reappraising the waterfront dispute of 1998

Literature about the waterfront dispute is analysed in terms of realism," radicalism," critical analysis," and cultural, reflexive or discursive analysis." These four headings are ,used to investigate various possible backgrounds to the dispute and to consider contending interpretations of the course of the dispute. None of the literature has anything to say, however, about the use of web pages and email during the dispute. Interviews with four web masters reveal two insights: one, it is pertinent to distinguish between the use of computers to disseminate information and their use to promote union campaigns and organisation; and two, it is productive to analyse political actors in terms of how they deploy available discourses.