Mark Anstey grew up in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where he worked briefly as a social worker. He moved to South Africa in 1977 working for the University of the Witwatersrand and the bipartisan Institute for Industrial Relations, before joining the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University) as Director of its Labour Relations Unit in 1987. He was part of a small group of academics and human rights lawyers that initiated independent mediation services in the country in the early 1980’s and remained an active mediator of labour conflicts at sectoral and plant levels through to 2019. Workplaces have a core relevance in transformational societies and he has a particular interest in relationship building interventions and organizational change processes. In the context of South Africa’s volatile political environment in the 1980’s and early 1990s he was drawn into community conflict work, serving within the National Peace Accord structures to mediate a range of political, community, and policing conflicts; and then the Independent Electoral Commission as Regional Director of Monitoring (East Cape) for the country’s historic 1994 democratic elections. He was an early consultant to the Minister of Safety and Security after 1994, involved in the redesign of labour relations in the police service. He has been involved in training people in negotiation, mediation, conflict management, and aspects of human resource management in over 30 countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Philippines as well as in the USA.
He has published eight books and numerous professional and academic articles on aspects of negotiation and mediation, labour relations, and social work. He is an emeritus professor with Nelson Mandela University; a senior visiting fellow with Clingendael (The Netherlands Institute for International Relations); and a steering committee member of the Processes of International Negotiation Programme based at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). He was a professor with Michigan State University in Dubai (2008-11); and Executive Director of the Institute for Industrial Relations in Johannesburg (1982-86). While in South Africa he taught courses at the Universities of Witwatersrand, Cape Town, and Stellenbosch. He holds a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a D Phil in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (though in comparative labour relations) from the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University).
Books
Rosoux V and Anstey M. (eds). 2017. Negotiating Reconciliation in Peacemaking: Quandaries of Relationship Building. Springer
Zartman IW, Anstey M and Meerts, P (eds). 2012. Reducing Identity Conflicts and Preventing Genocide. New York, Oxford University Press
Anstey M, Grogan J & Ngcukaitobi. 2011. Collective Bargaining in the Workplace, Cape Town, Jutas
Anstey M. (editions 1991, 1997, 2006). Managing Change, Negotiating Conflict Cape Town, Juta & Co Ltd.
Anstey M. (ed). 1997. Employee Participation and Workplace Forums. Cape Town: Juta & Co, Ltd.
Anstey M. 1993. Practical Peacemaking. Cape Town: Juta & Co, Ltd
Anstey, M. 1990 (ed) Worker Participation: South African Options and Experiences. Cape Town: Juta & Co, Ltd.
Anstey, M. 1983. Working With Groups. Cape Town: Juta & Co,Ltd.
Chapters (since 2000)
2021 | Negotiating justice in the shadow of the law: Land reform and transformation in South Africa. In Albin, C. Negotiating Justice: From Conflict to Agreement (pending) |
2015 | South Africa’s Democratic Transition in Zartman IW (ed) Intifadat: Negotiating in the Shadow of the Intifidat.. Georgia University Press, Athens Georgia. |
2009 | Labor Movements and Negotiations in Societies in Transition in Aleksy-Szucsich A (ed). The Art of International Negotiations. Warsaw, Institute of International Relations at the University of Warsaw |
2001 | Labor Disputes: Making Use of Regimes. in Zartman IW (ed) Preventive Negotiation: Avoiding Conflict Escalation. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield pp279-304 |
2000 | with de Villiers, D. A. Trade Unions in Transitions to Democracy in South Africa, Spain and Brazil. In Adler,G. & Webster,E (eds). Trade Unions and Democratisation, 1985-1997. Macmillan Press Ltd pp20-42. |
Peer reviewed Articles (since 2000)
2019 | Negotiating Elusive Justice: Dilemmas of Land Distribution in Southern Africa. Obiter 40, 2:240-262 |
2013 | With Venter D and Wannenburg I. Change Management Insights from a Higher Education Merger. Journal of Development and Leadership 2,2:. |
2013 | Marikana – the push for a new South African Pact. South African Journal of Labour Relations 37,2: 133-145 (Forum section). |
2007 | Zimbabwe in Ruins: Mediation Prospects in a Conflict Not Yet Ripe for Resolution. International Negotiation, 12, 3: 415-442* |
2006 | Modernisation and Migration: Transformation of Labour Relations in the Global Automobile Industry. African Sociological Review 10,2: 43-71* |
2006 | Can a Fledgling Democracy Take Flight in the Congo?. African Journal of Conflict Resolution.6,2: 35-68* |
2006 | Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing: The Transformation of Labour Relations in the South African Automobile Industry. SA Journal Of Labour Relations. 30, 1: 6-29.* |
2005 | with Anstey I. Development of a Holistic Approach to Assisting Families with an Alzheimer’s sufferer. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk.41,3: 296-305* |
2004 | National Bargaining in South Africa’s Clothing Manufacturing Industry : Problems and Prospects of Multi-employer Bargaining in an Industry Under Siege. Industrial Law Journal. 25. October: 1829-1864.* |
2004 | African Renaissance: Implications for Labour Relations. South African Journal of Labour Relations. 28,1: 34-82* |
2004 | with Fleetwood, T. Using the Balanced Scorecard to Assess The Impact of a Staff Scheduling Initiative: A Case Study in the Retail Sector. South African Journal of Labour Relations . 28,1: 106-126.* |
Other short articles (since 2000)
2021 | Boris Johnson’s oven-baked deal emerges half-baked. oPINion |
2020 | Democratic disconnects: A Short History of Brexit (So Far) PINpoints 47/20 |
2019 | Organizational Change as a Multi-lateral Negotiation Process. PINpoints 46/19 |
2017 | ECOWAS Mediates the Foundations for Democracy Into Place in The Gambia Pinpoints 43/17 |
2016 | Persuading, Leading and Negotiating Within and Across Cultures. Pinpoints 42/16 |
2015 | South Sudan’s Conciliation Challenges PINpoints 41/2015 |
2014 | Negotiating Crowd Behaviour. PINpoints 40/2014 |
2014 | Mandela’s Legacy of Negotiation PINpoints 38/2014 |
2012 | Understanding Evil … Insights for Negotiators and Conciliators PINpoints 37/2012 |
2011 | Change in the Middle East – Mixed, Muted and Muddled. PINpoints 36/2011 |
2009 | Negotiating Organizational Change. PINpoints 33/2009 : |
2009 | Transnational Corporations and International Framework Agreements. PINpoints 32/2009: 11-13 |
2008 | Labor Movements in Societies in Transition. PINpoints 31/2008: 13-15 |
2008 | Transforming Africa’s Conflicts into Nation Building Projects Options. IIASA, Summer 2008: 20-21 |