Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, Sa... more Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco (co-authored with Martin Behrens)
Labour and industry: A journal of the social and economic relations of work, Apr 1, 2009
ABSTRACT Shop stewards are crucial to the vitality of unions, yet our understanding of why worker... more ABSTRACT Shop stewards are crucial to the vitality of unions, yet our understanding of why workers take on this important role is incomplete. This qualitative study seeks to contribute to addressing this gap by exploring the factors that influenced workers to become shop stewards in three dissimilar industries (construction,cleaning, and higher education). It draws on earlier research to investigate the explanatory potential of two sets of influences - personal factors and social processes - in interviews with 20 shop stewards and officials from three Australian unions. The study's findings support this conceptual approach, but suggest scope for its refinement. Finally, avenues for further research are identified, and policy implications for unions discussed.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)—two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature—have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR’s intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR’s core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and bui...
In 2017, Australian unions faced ongoing membership decline and new institutional constraints, bu... more In 2017, Australian unions faced ongoing membership decline and new institutional constraints, but emerged reinvigorated from a change in leadership and a policy re-set. Many unions faced a hostile environment for bargaining, with protracted negotiations in key sectors, attended by robust industrial action at times. The decline in union members and collective agreements reached a crisis point. A surprisingly diverse collection of individuals expressed concerns that the system of enterprise bargaining was not producing outcomes that were fair or economically sustainable, with some questioning whether the system had created the level playing field its architects had envisioned, as well expressing growing unease that reforms intended to constrain unions were undermining the original objective of the legislation. Heading into 2018, unions and the Australian Council of Trade Unions were seeking a political and legislative solution to the seemingly entrenched industrial difficulties they face, campaigning around the theme ‘change the rules’. Without significant change in the system, it is difficult to see that the coming years will see any change to these dominant patterns.
For Australian unions, 2015 was a difficult year. Union membership and agreement-making continued... more For Australian unions, 2015 was a difficult year. Union membership and agreement-making continued to decline, and unions faced intense scrutiny from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption and the Productivity Commission's inquiry into workplace relations. The protection of local employment standards and the exploitation of migrant workers were at the core of prominent union campaigns. In the federal public sector, as in parts of private industry, unions faced protracted negotiations with employers. In some states, unions enjoyed a more favourable climate under Labor governments. Ahead of the forthcoming federal election, unions refocused on grassroots campaigning in marginal electorates as the prospect of legislative reforms to industrial relations looms large.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)—two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature—have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR’s intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR’s core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and bui...
To confront the climate crisis requires fundamental system change in order to break the conventio... more To confront the climate crisis requires fundamental system change in order to break the convention of relentless economic exploitation of nature. In this Special Issue we extend understanding of the opportunities for an organizing perspective on sustainability in order that organization studies might contribute more effectively to the challenges of organizing sustainably. This organizing perspective is particularly sensitive to (1) a variety of forms and practices of sustainable organizing in different societal spheres and on different levels, (2) the social institutions, logics and value systems in which these forms and practices are embedded, (3) the power and politics of promoting (or blocking) sustainable organization, and (4) the ways in which work, voice, participation, and inclusion are organized and contribute to developing societal capabilities. These features formed the basis of our original call for papers and we review selected literature on sustainability, including the contribution of organization studies and the articles in this Special Issue, through this organizing perspective. In so doing we identify four key themes of a future research agenda that builds from the foundations of existing research and addresses key current limitations in both theory and practice: sustainability requires social justice; connecting local and global scale shifts; democratizing governance; and acting collectively. We conclude with some implications for our own scholarship in organization studies if we are to meet the twin challenges of the need for new theorizing in combination with devising practically relevant support for change.
In this chapter, we underscore the enduring importance of research on work, workers, labour marke... more In this chapter, we underscore the enduring importance of research on work, workers, labour markets, and the places and spaces of work. We then examine the particular and valuable contributions that come from ethnographic research in providing detailed studies of work, particularly when these are situated and interpreted in their wider socio-political contexts. We discuss the key dimensions of ethnography before overviewing the contributions to the volume. The volume presents cutting-edge ethnographic research on contemporary worlds of work and the experiences of workers from a range of contexts including an alternative community, working online, the gig economy, and the hospitality industry. Alongside novel empirical chapters, the collection includes the reflections of ethnographers with regards to, for example, the experience as a young female management researcher working amongst journalists in a media firm, personal feelings of precarity within and beyond the field, and how to navigate the challenges of researching inequalities ethnographically.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)-two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature-have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR's intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR's core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and building on insights developed in CMS. We argue that CMS as a whole offers lessons for IR in at least three ways: (i) the emphasis on cultural dominance over workers; (ii) recognition of social and identity-based fault lines that define life and work experiences; and (iii) attention to the social construction of subjectivities. In closing, we suggest four areas that cross-fertilization between IR and CMS is likely to greatly contribute to: resistance in late capitalism, alternative organizations, inclusion, and the "future of work."
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)-two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature-have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR's intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR's core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and building on insights developed in CMS. We argue that CMS as a whole offers lessons for IR in at least three ways: (i) the emphasis on cultural dominance over workers; (ii) recognition of social and identity-based fault lines that define life and work experiences; and (iii) attention to the social construction of subjectivities. In closing, we suggest four areas that cross-fertilization between IR and CMS is likely to greatly contribute to: resistance in late capitalism, alternative organizations, inclusion, and the "future of work."
The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing int... more The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing interest among researchers in exploring how social movement (SM) theory can be used to inform union research, particularly in the context of revitalization/renewal debates. Our starting proposition is that this approach can be extended through an engagement with the larger corpus of SM theory. We focus in particular on the ‘collective action frame’ concept. Drawing on examples used by SM scholars, we illustrate how these concepts can be used to extend and enrich union theory and pose new questions concerning the role of unions.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin t... more The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin to a stress test for industrial relations institutions. Drawing on a large-scale (n = 6111) study of German employees, we empirically investigate whether and how the two institutions comprising Germany's dual system of employee representation—works councils and collective bargaining—have delivered on their protective potential and mitigated the impact of the pandemic on workers. We demonstrate that employees in representative environments fare better on a range of protective outcomes.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin t... more The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin to a stress test for industrial relations institutions. Drawing on a large-scale (n = 6111) study of German employees, we empirically investigate whether and how the two institutions comprising Germany's dual system of employee representation—works councils and collective bargaining—have delivered on their protective potential and mitigated the impact of the pandemic on workers. We demonstrate that employees in representative environments fare better on a range of protective outcomes.
This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely o... more This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely overlooked by mainstream and critical scholars alike: its gendered qualities. Gender is 'hiding in plain sight' in the sense that its high concentration of women is obvious but has attracted only sporadic academic commentary. We suggest rather than simply a 'feminised' area of management, contemporary HR is a complex mix of both masculine-coded and feminine-coded values, priorities and norms derived from earlier traditions of welfare and personnel management as well as the later influence of strategic management. Attention to this gendered complexity can help us understand how the HR occupation is experienced in everyday interactions and provide an alternative perspective that enriches Critical Human Resource Management.
This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely o... more This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely overlooked by mainstream and critical scholars alike: its gendered qualities. Gender is 'hiding in plain sight' in the sense that its high concentration of women is obvious but has attracted only sporadic academic commentary. We suggest rather than simply a 'feminised' area of management, contemporary HR is a complex mix of both masculine-coded and feminine-coded values, priorities and norms derived from earlier traditions of welfare and personnel management as well as the later influence of strategic management. Attention to this gendered complexity can help us understand how the HR occupation is experienced in everyday interactions and provide an alternative perspective that enriches Critical Human Resource Management.
Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, Sa... more Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco (co-authored with Martin Behrens)
Labour and industry: A journal of the social and economic relations of work, Apr 1, 2009
ABSTRACT Shop stewards are crucial to the vitality of unions, yet our understanding of why worker... more ABSTRACT Shop stewards are crucial to the vitality of unions, yet our understanding of why workers take on this important role is incomplete. This qualitative study seeks to contribute to addressing this gap by exploring the factors that influenced workers to become shop stewards in three dissimilar industries (construction,cleaning, and higher education). It draws on earlier research to investigate the explanatory potential of two sets of influences - personal factors and social processes - in interviews with 20 shop stewards and officials from three Australian unions. The study's findings support this conceptual approach, but suggest scope for its refinement. Finally, avenues for further research are identified, and policy implications for unions discussed.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)—two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature—have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR’s intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR’s core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and bui...
In 2017, Australian unions faced ongoing membership decline and new institutional constraints, bu... more In 2017, Australian unions faced ongoing membership decline and new institutional constraints, but emerged reinvigorated from a change in leadership and a policy re-set. Many unions faced a hostile environment for bargaining, with protracted negotiations in key sectors, attended by robust industrial action at times. The decline in union members and collective agreements reached a crisis point. A surprisingly diverse collection of individuals expressed concerns that the system of enterprise bargaining was not producing outcomes that were fair or economically sustainable, with some questioning whether the system had created the level playing field its architects had envisioned, as well expressing growing unease that reforms intended to constrain unions were undermining the original objective of the legislation. Heading into 2018, unions and the Australian Council of Trade Unions were seeking a political and legislative solution to the seemingly entrenched industrial difficulties they face, campaigning around the theme ‘change the rules’. Without significant change in the system, it is difficult to see that the coming years will see any change to these dominant patterns.
For Australian unions, 2015 was a difficult year. Union membership and agreement-making continued... more For Australian unions, 2015 was a difficult year. Union membership and agreement-making continued to decline, and unions faced intense scrutiny from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption and the Productivity Commission's inquiry into workplace relations. The protection of local employment standards and the exploitation of migrant workers were at the core of prominent union campaigns. In the federal public sector, as in parts of private industry, unions faced protracted negotiations with employers. In some states, unions enjoyed a more favourable climate under Labor governments. Ahead of the forthcoming federal election, unions refocused on grassroots campaigning in marginal electorates as the prospect of legislative reforms to industrial relations looms large.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)—two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature—have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR’s intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR’s core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and bui...
To confront the climate crisis requires fundamental system change in order to break the conventio... more To confront the climate crisis requires fundamental system change in order to break the convention of relentless economic exploitation of nature. In this Special Issue we extend understanding of the opportunities for an organizing perspective on sustainability in order that organization studies might contribute more effectively to the challenges of organizing sustainably. This organizing perspective is particularly sensitive to (1) a variety of forms and practices of sustainable organizing in different societal spheres and on different levels, (2) the social institutions, logics and value systems in which these forms and practices are embedded, (3) the power and politics of promoting (or blocking) sustainable organization, and (4) the ways in which work, voice, participation, and inclusion are organized and contribute to developing societal capabilities. These features formed the basis of our original call for papers and we review selected literature on sustainability, including the contribution of organization studies and the articles in this Special Issue, through this organizing perspective. In so doing we identify four key themes of a future research agenda that builds from the foundations of existing research and addresses key current limitations in both theory and practice: sustainability requires social justice; connecting local and global scale shifts; democratizing governance; and acting collectively. We conclude with some implications for our own scholarship in organization studies if we are to meet the twin challenges of the need for new theorizing in combination with devising practically relevant support for change.
In this chapter, we underscore the enduring importance of research on work, workers, labour marke... more In this chapter, we underscore the enduring importance of research on work, workers, labour markets, and the places and spaces of work. We then examine the particular and valuable contributions that come from ethnographic research in providing detailed studies of work, particularly when these are situated and interpreted in their wider socio-political contexts. We discuss the key dimensions of ethnography before overviewing the contributions to the volume. The volume presents cutting-edge ethnographic research on contemporary worlds of work and the experiences of workers from a range of contexts including an alternative community, working online, the gig economy, and the hospitality industry. Alongside novel empirical chapters, the collection includes the reflections of ethnographers with regards to, for example, the experience as a young female management researcher working amongst journalists in a media firm, personal feelings of precarity within and beyond the field, and how to navigate the challenges of researching inequalities ethnographically.
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)-two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature-have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR's intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR's core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and building on insights developed in CMS. We argue that CMS as a whole offers lessons for IR in at least three ways: (i) the emphasis on cultural dominance over workers; (ii) recognition of social and identity-based fault lines that define life and work experiences; and (iii) attention to the social construction of subjectivities. In closing, we suggest four areas that cross-fertilization between IR and CMS is likely to greatly contribute to: resistance in late capitalism, alternative organizations, inclusion, and the "future of work."
The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments... more The study of work is central to understanding how changes in organizations and their environments impact lives and livelihoods. While industrial sociology and its concern with the organization of work are foundational to management and organization studies, scholars have bemoaned the waning interest in work and its evolution within these fields. In this article we seek to re-energize this tradition, arguing that Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Industrial Relations (IR)-two disciplines whose core interests concern work and its changing nature-have much to gain from further cross-fertilization. As Organization becomes a recognized platform for scholarship on the organization of work, we submit that more could be done to bring IR's intellectual legacy into CMS approaches, and that doing so will yield mutual benefits. We focus here on IR's core concerns with rules and regulatory frameworks, and collectivities over individualities. Similarly, IR can benefit from integrating and building on insights developed in CMS. We argue that CMS as a whole offers lessons for IR in at least three ways: (i) the emphasis on cultural dominance over workers; (ii) recognition of social and identity-based fault lines that define life and work experiences; and (iii) attention to the social construction of subjectivities. In closing, we suggest four areas that cross-fertilization between IR and CMS is likely to greatly contribute to: resistance in late capitalism, alternative organizations, inclusion, and the "future of work."
The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing int... more The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing interest among researchers in exploring how social movement (SM) theory can be used to inform union research, particularly in the context of revitalization/renewal debates. Our starting proposition is that this approach can be extended through an engagement with the larger corpus of SM theory. We focus in particular on the ‘collective action frame’ concept. Drawing on examples used by SM scholars, we illustrate how these concepts can be used to extend and enrich union theory and pose new questions concerning the role of unions.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin t... more The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin to a stress test for industrial relations institutions. Drawing on a large-scale (n = 6111) study of German employees, we empirically investigate whether and how the two institutions comprising Germany's dual system of employee representation—works councils and collective bargaining—have delivered on their protective potential and mitigated the impact of the pandemic on workers. We demonstrate that employees in representative environments fare better on a range of protective outcomes.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin t... more The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labor market disruptions at an unprecedented scale and is akin to a stress test for industrial relations institutions. Drawing on a large-scale (n = 6111) study of German employees, we empirically investigate whether and how the two institutions comprising Germany's dual system of employee representation—works councils and collective bargaining—have delivered on their protective potential and mitigated the impact of the pandemic on workers. We demonstrate that employees in representative environments fare better on a range of protective outcomes.
This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely o... more This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely overlooked by mainstream and critical scholars alike: its gendered qualities. Gender is 'hiding in plain sight' in the sense that its high concentration of women is obvious but has attracted only sporadic academic commentary. We suggest rather than simply a 'feminised' area of management, contemporary HR is a complex mix of both masculine-coded and feminine-coded values, priorities and norms derived from earlier traditions of welfare and personnel management as well as the later influence of strategic management. Attention to this gendered complexity can help us understand how the HR occupation is experienced in everyday interactions and provide an alternative perspective that enriches Critical Human Resource Management.
This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely o... more This paper argues an important aspect of Human Resources (HR) as an occupation has been largely overlooked by mainstream and critical scholars alike: its gendered qualities. Gender is 'hiding in plain sight' in the sense that its high concentration of women is obvious but has attracted only sporadic academic commentary. We suggest rather than simply a 'feminised' area of management, contemporary HR is a complex mix of both masculine-coded and feminine-coded values, priorities and norms derived from earlier traditions of welfare and personnel management as well as the later influence of strategic management. Attention to this gendered complexity can help us understand how the HR occupation is experienced in everyday interactions and provide an alternative perspective that enriches Critical Human Resource Management.
Conference paper, Arbeitskreis Verbände in der DVPW, Universität Siegen, Germany, 22. und 23. Jan... more Conference paper, Arbeitskreis Verbände in der DVPW, Universität Siegen, Germany, 22. und 23. Januar 2015
Refereed conference presentation @ American Sociological Association (2014)
Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, Sa... more Refereed paper presented at the 2014 annual congress of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco (co-authored with Martin Behrens)
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