We use recent research and two 2018 arbitration cases to argue that the 2013 Bangladesh Accord on... more We use recent research and two 2018 arbitration cases to argue that the 2013 Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety represents a regulatory model that is in principle worthy of extension to other countries and sectors. It has achieved considerable membership from purchasing multinationals and other stakeholders, and has successfully secured major improvements to building safety so far. It implicitly challenges arguments in favour of non-legally supported approaches. We argue that its legal basis is the crucial underlying component of its success and has in significant respects been strengthened in its revised 2018 iteration. In view of the weakness of local worker voice, the involvement of the Global Union Federations, acting in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, was important in securing the benefits achieved. Such an alliance appears a necessary condition for the model’s extension.
I examine cinematic depictions of American corporate managers since 2008, extending previous disc... more I examine cinematic depictions of American corporate managers since 2008, extending previous discussions. Experts agree that earlier filmic representations often showed managers as at best indifferent to subordinates, at worst cynical and/or exploitative of them. The standard archetype was seen by several commentators as that of the ‘Macho Manager’. Drawing on analyses of selected films and auteurs’ public statements, I argue that since the financial crisis managers have increasingly been portrayed as vulnerable individuals themselves subject to unemployment, with problems in common with other employees, sympathetic towards them and on occasion willing to mobilise them for collective ends. I conceptualise the new depiction in the idea of the Post-Company ManagerialHero. The shift has been a conscious one on the part of auteurs. Given the cultural importance of cinema as a popular medium, demonstrating that such a change has taken place in the cinematic depictions of managers may hel...
ABSTRACT This article contributes to discussion of continuity and change in the International Lab... more ABSTRACT This article contributes to discussion of continuity and change in the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) history, asking how the organisation and worker activities have been depicted in film. Since the 1920s, the films in which the organisation portrays itself have placed less emphasis on its European base, the largely male culture that once dominated it and the precise nature of its role in the world. In more recent years, the ILO’s cinematic output has made an effort to emphasise work, workers and their collective activity. Their short films have also come to overtly advocate ‘partnership’ trade unionism within a wider international and perspective while paying much more attention to matters of racial and gender diversity. These changes have been framed within the organisation’s constant assertion of continuity in its values and explicit use of its own history. Film has therefore contributed to consistency and continuity in its self-projection, providing parameters within which change has occurred.
We use recent research and two 2018 arbitration cases to argue that the 2013 Bangladesh Accord on... more We use recent research and two 2018 arbitration cases to argue that the 2013 Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety represents a regulatory model that is in principle worthy of extension to other countries and sectors. It has achieved considerable membership from purchasing multinationals and other stakeholders, and has successfully secured major improvements to building safety so far. It implicitly challenges arguments in favour of non-legally supported approaches. We argue that its legal basis is the crucial underlying component of its success and has in significant respects been strengthened in its revised 2018 iteration. In view of the weakness of local worker voice, the involvement of the Global Union Federations, acting in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, was important in securing the benefits achieved. Such an alliance appears a necessary condition for the model’s extension.
I examine cinematic depictions of American corporate managers since 2008, extending previous disc... more I examine cinematic depictions of American corporate managers since 2008, extending previous discussions. Experts agree that earlier filmic representations often showed managers as at best indifferent to subordinates, at worst cynical and/or exploitative of them. The standard archetype was seen by several commentators as that of the ‘Macho Manager’. Drawing on analyses of selected films and auteurs’ public statements, I argue that since the financial crisis managers have increasingly been portrayed as vulnerable individuals themselves subject to unemployment, with problems in common with other employees, sympathetic towards them and on occasion willing to mobilise them for collective ends. I conceptualise the new depiction in the idea of the Post-Company ManagerialHero. The shift has been a conscious one on the part of auteurs. Given the cultural importance of cinema as a popular medium, demonstrating that such a change has taken place in the cinematic depictions of managers may hel...
ABSTRACT This article contributes to discussion of continuity and change in the International Lab... more ABSTRACT This article contributes to discussion of continuity and change in the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) history, asking how the organisation and worker activities have been depicted in film. Since the 1920s, the films in which the organisation portrays itself have placed less emphasis on its European base, the largely male culture that once dominated it and the precise nature of its role in the world. In more recent years, the ILO’s cinematic output has made an effort to emphasise work, workers and their collective activity. Their short films have also come to overtly advocate ‘partnership’ trade unionism within a wider international and perspective while paying much more attention to matters of racial and gender diversity. These changes have been framed within the organisation’s constant assertion of continuity in its values and explicit use of its own history. Film has therefore contributed to consistency and continuity in its self-projection, providing parameters within which change has occurred.
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Papers by Mark Houssart