Carol Stephenson

The Whispering Shadow: Collectivism and Individualism at Ikeda-Hoover and Nissan UK:

Despite recent interest in the character of individual dissonance in the workplace less attention has been given to the nature of collectivism in the context of restricted trade union behaviour. While findings on conflicts associated with collective practices have been given reasonable space these have tended to focus on the association between collectivism qua trade unions and the presence or absence of conflict. Moreover, where the relationship between conflict and individualism provide the focus of study, this often serves to herald the demise of forms of collectivism or collectivism in general. The paper identifies three forms of collectivism in two Japanese manufacturing plants. These are; ‘trade union collectivism’; ‘work place collectivism’ and, the ‘social collectivism of everyday life’. By moving away from the conflict-consensus polarity, the intention is to shift the terms of debate over the nature of individualism and collectivism in the context of LLPs. The perceived conceptual and empirical gap is not to be closed by highlighting only incidents of dissonance, whether individually or collectively construed.

“Side by Side With Our Men?” Women's Activism, Community, and Gender in the 1984–1985 British Miners’ Strike

This paper explores the gendered concept of community with reference to the activism of women during the UK 1984–1985 miners’ strike. Drawing on texts from the period and reflective discussions twenty years later with women associated with the strike, it interrogates the ways in which the idea of community was used to accommodate the activism of women. We argue that the apparently gender-neutral ideal of mining community carried meanings that had ambiguous political implications for the women and that the strike highlighted paradoxes that question established understanding of female strike activism.

The politics of the doorstep : female survival strategies and the legacy of the miners’ strike 1984–85.

This paper considers the legacy of continuing activism of women in the North East of England who organized in support of the 1984–85 miners’ strike. It refers to the traditional responsibility of women in mining localities for the maintenance of neighbourhood and kin relations and using the example of a key activist in one ex-mining village, it argues that the values associated with ‘mining community’ remain relevant as a reference point for a self-conscious, politicized reshaping of local relationships in post-industrial conditions. The material basis for this self-conscious approach has shifted from the masculine sphere of mining work and its associated community institutions to the feminized sphere of location and neighbourhood.

‘Standing the gaff’: Immiseration and its consequences in the de-industrialised mining communities of Cape Breton Island

This paper applies Marx’s concept of immiseration to the mining communities of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in an attempt to conceptualise the consequences of de-industrialisation. We identify and explore a series of specific social, economic, historical, political and geographic circumstances that have militated against the radicalisation predicted by Marx, but nonetheless conclude that the concept of immiseration continues to have contemporary relevance. Economic hardship, out-migration on an unprecedented scale and a collapse of confidence at both an individual and collective level are the consequences of de-industrialisation and reveal the contemporary experience and purpose of immiseration. First, it is a process through which a geographically isolated population of workers have become conditioned either to accept poor work in terms of lower wages and conditions, or to become economic migrants. Second, it is a process through which new opportunities for profitability and investment are established for new investors.

Female involvement in the miners' strike 1984-1985 : trajectories of activism.

This paper is based on recent primary research interviews with women who were active in the 1984-1985 miners’ strike. The paper claims that one depiction of womens engagement in the strike has been privileged above others: activist women were miners’ wives who embarked on a linear passage from domesticity and political passivity into politicisation and then retreated from political engagement following the defeat. This depiction is based on a masculinist view which sees political action as organisationally based and which fails to recognise the importance of small scale and emotional political work which women did and continue to undertake within their communities. In reality many women were politically active and aware prior to the dispute though not necessarily in a traditional sense. Womens activism is characterised by continuity: those women who have maintained activism were likely to have been socially and/or politically active prior to the dispute.

Business in society

Whats the point of studying business from a social perspective? How can sociology aid my understanding of the big issues facing businesses today? Can thinking sociologically really equip me better for a career in business? This text provides an indispensable introduction to business and organizations from a social perspective.

Dig where you stand: Working life biographies as a challenge to the neoliberal classroom

Neoliberal interpretations of the social world reject structural explanations in favour of those that see agency as primary. This orthodoxy presents a challenge to teachers who seek to support the development of a sociological understanding, particularly where disadvantaged students are undermined by the stigma associated with these interpretations. This article explores a teaching strategy which draws upon readings of auto/biography on the part of both teachers and students to develop a critical understanding of the relationship between agency and structure. We argue that such an approach can take sociology back to its radical roots as a transformative and radicalising discipline.