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1 – 10 of 154The occupation of employers' premises by employees has rapidly become an unremarked aspect of industrial action in Britain. Sufficiently so that, in September 1975, the Trades…
Abstract
The occupation of employers' premises by employees has rapidly become an unremarked aspect of industrial action in Britain. Sufficiently so that, in September 1975, the Trades Union Congress debated and passed a motion to seek to legalize ‘sit‐ins’ and ‘work‐ins’.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results of Hong Kong’s 2015 District Council elections in order to test the repercussions of the Occupy Central Movement. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results of Hong Kong’s 2015 District Council elections in order to test the repercussions of the Occupy Central Movement. The paper attempts to identify the political implications of the Movement as reflected by the 2015 election results.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used for the paper was to collect election data and conduct data analysis to generalize the political implications of the Occupy Central Movement.
Findings
The paper found that, first, Hong Kong is still polarized, as most voters were divided into those who supported the Occupy Central Movement and those who opposed it. Second, there is no consensus regarding political reforms, as most voters were split into two antagonistic positions. Third, the activists of the Occupy Central Movement have formed a new political force that attracts voters who demand change. Fourth, the Occupy Central Movement has become a breeding ground that nurtures localism.
Research limitations/implications
The 2015 District Council elections were a continuation of the Occupy Central Movement. The Movement affected the political balance between the pro-establishment and pan-democratic camps in the 2015 elections and it has shaped the democratization process in Hong Kong.
Originality/value
The paper was the product of an original research project that examined the results of the 2015 District Council elections to reflect on the implications of the Occupy Central Movement. The paper concluded that the 2015 elections sent important political messages to key political players in Hong Kong.
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JOHN HEMINGWAY and WILLIAM KEYSER
This study took a sample of every traceable occupation which occurred in Britain in the six months 1 January to 30 June 1975. These findings were supplemented by a postal survey…
Abstract
This study took a sample of every traceable occupation which occurred in Britain in the six months 1 January to 30 June 1975. These findings were supplemented by a postal survey of 100 of the ‘top 400’ companies, to obtain a more general view of attitudes towards occupations — replies were obtained from about 40 companies.
‘Over my dead body’ said the Vice‐Principal. He was reacting, somewhat predictably, to the suggestion that a students' union might be formed in the college. No doubt it was the…
Abstract
‘Over my dead body’ said the Vice‐Principal. He was reacting, somewhat predictably, to the suggestion that a students' union might be formed in the college. No doubt it was the word ‘union’ that gave rise to his fears of strikes and bloody‐minded shop stewards. However, there is a students' union flourishing now in that particular college, and the Vice‐Principal is still alive, and I imagine quite reconciled to the idea, but his fears must have been echoed by many people in authority in further education, especially when they read the often lurid press accounts of sit‐ins at the LSE and ‘Red Rudi’ in West Germany. Why then have a students' union in a technical college?
The purpose of this theoretical paper is to propose that museums can be useful sites in intervening the theory–practice divide in teacher education. The authors draw from their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this theoretical paper is to propose that museums can be useful sites in intervening the theory–practice divide in teacher education. The authors draw from their visit to the Center for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR or Center hereafter) to explore the potential of a local museum as a powerful intervention in the preservice teacher education theory/practice divide.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors’ theoretical framework draws off of “thinking with theory,” a method of using concepts to make sense of data by “plugging” a concept “into” data (Jackson and Mazzei, 2011). The authors believe that everyone, even their preservice teachers think with theories in an attempt to make sense of information and events. In their social studies methods courses, the authors offer readings, texts, videos and experiences that present ideas and concepts that are new to their preservice teachers in order to expose underlying theories that frame worldviews.
Findings
The authors provide four “snapshots” or findings. These include: heroification and villainification, White–Black binary and messianic meta-narratives, empathy and simulation and critical Black patriotism. Each of these snapshots is grounded in theories from scholars in the field of social studies, demonstrating one way to put theory to work.
Originality/value
As the aforementioned snapshots show, the authors found a place like CCHR that can serve as important space to think with theory and deconstruct presented narratives. The authors “plugged” concepts from social studies scholarship “into” the narratives presented at the CCHR. Specifically, the authors used villainification (van Kessel and Crowley, 2017), AsianCrit (Chang, 1993), Black Patriotism (Busey and Walker, 2017) and messianic narratives and martyrdom (Alridge, 2006).
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Niall Cullinane and Tony Dundon
This paper aims to examine the antecedent influences and merits of workplace occupations as a tactical response to employer redundancy initiatives.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the antecedent influences and merits of workplace occupations as a tactical response to employer redundancy initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The data are based on analysis of secondary documentary material reporting on three workplace occupations in the Republic of Ireland during 2009.
Findings
Perceptions of both procedural (e.g. employer unilateral action) and substantive (e.g. pay and entitlements) justice appear pivotal influences. Spillover effects from other known occupations may also be influential. Workplace occupations were found to produce some modest substantive gains, such as enhancing redundancy payments. The tactic of workplace occupation was also found to transform unilateral employer action into scenarios based upon negotiated settlement supported by third‐party mediation. However the tactic of workplace occupation in response to redundancy runs the risks of potential judicial injunction and sanction.
Research limitations/implications
Although operationally difficult, future studies should strive to collect primary data workplace occupations as they occur.
Originality/value
The paper identifies conditions conducive to the genesis of workplace occupations and the extent to which the tactic may be of benefit in particular circumstances to workers facing redundancy. It also contextualises the tactic in relation to both collective mobilisation and bargaining theories in employment relations.
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The relative absence of worker occupations in recent years in a context of major restructuring and unemployment has raised issues in Spain as to the changing nature of specific…
Abstract
Purpose
The relative absence of worker occupations in recent years in a context of major restructuring and unemployment has raised issues in Spain as to the changing nature of specific forms of direct action. This paper seeks to argue that it is important, in the case of Spain, to discuss how worker occupations have been changing and developing over time if the changing pattern, character and impact of worker unrest and direct action is to be understood.
Design/methodology/approach
The research materials for this paper are based on a series of meetings and interviews with union officers and activists that draw on various projects on union development in Spain during the years 1983‐1988, 2000‐2002 and 2009‐2010, and the study of a range of secondary texts.
Findings
The paper suggests that, as well as discussing questions of motives, whether economic or political, accounting for the socio‐economic context and the changing nature of the workforce in terms of its degree of concentration, the changing nature of labour market stability, and the relationship of workers to “stable” workplaces and work is required. Additionally, there is a need to account for how workers reference and recall (or not) previous modes of mobilising and actions.
Practical implications
Discussing worker occupations should involve issues of political purpose, economic context, the changing nature of work and workers, and the role of memory and historical framing if an appreciation of their varying nature and presence within the landscape of labour relations is to be made. Hence, a multi‐dimensional understanding of the context of worker action is required.
Social implications
The implications of the paper are that conflict of work needs to be understood in broader terms, and that worker related activities can be highly innovative.
Originality/value
The paper examines union and worker responses to the current recession in Spain and focuses on the role and context of unofficial approaches, especially worker occupations, to the changing workplace.
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Ahmed Abdelnaby Ahmed Diab and Abdelmoneim Bahyeldin Mohamed Metwally
The purpose of this study is to investigate in depth how an organisation is able to achieve its economic objectives in a situation of institutional complexity through being…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate in depth how an organisation is able to achieve its economic objectives in a situation of institutional complexity through being institutionally dexterous. The study also investigates how this is done through overriding formal controls and concentrating on socio-political and communal-based controls.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically, the study draws on the perspectives of institutional complexity and ambidexterity to link higher-order institutions with mundane labour control practices observed at the micro level of the case company. Methodologically, the study adopts an interpretive – case study – approach. Empirical data were solicited in an Egyptian village community, where sugar beet farming and processing constitutes the main economic activity underlying its livelihood. Data were collected through a triangulation of interviews, documents and observations.
Findings
The study concludes that, especially in socio-political contexts such as Egypt, the organisational environment can better be understood and perceived as institutionally complex situation. To manage such complexity and to effectively meet its economic objectives, the organisation needs to be institutionally dextrous. Thereby, this study presents an inclusive view of management control (MC) which is based not only on rational economic practices, but also on social, religious and political aspects that are central to this institutional environment.
Originality/value
The study contributes to MC and logics literature in a number of respects. It extends the institutional logics debate by illustrating that logics get re-institutionalised by the “place” through its cultural, political and communal identities that filter logics’ complexities to different ends. Further, it extends the cultural political economy of MC by illustrating that MC in socio-political settings is also an operational manifestation of the logics prevailing in the context. These logics produced an informal MC system that dominated the formal known MCs.
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Muhammad Asif, Prem Chhetri and Rajiv Padhye
This paper explores the interaction and impact of political disruptions on textile supply chain performance in Pakistan. A qualitative approach is adopted to explore the linkages…
Abstract
This paper explores the interaction and impact of political disruptions on textile supply chain performance in Pakistan. A qualitative approach is adopted to explore the linkages and relationships between political disruptions and supply chain disruptions and performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at 25 different textile manufacturing firms. This study confirmed the prevalence of severe and variegated impacts of political disruptions on the textile supply chain. Supply chain disruption is found to be a key mediating factor that directly and indirectly affect supply chain performance through an increased production and delivery lead-time, transportation delays, interruptions of raw material supplies to plants and distributors and the restricted access to workplaces for suppliers and workers. The linkages are represented through vicious circles that illustrate the interactions and inter-relationships between disrupted supply chain and performance. This study provides empirical evidence to help government to formulate pertinent labour laws and industrial policy to mitigate political disruptions and minimise deleterious effects of supply chain disruption on production and distribution networks whilst respecting and protecting the democratic rights of people.
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