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`You're only as Good as Your Last Job': The Labour Process and Labour Market in the British Film Industry

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  • Helen Blair

    (University of Nottingham Business School)

Abstract

Recent debates surrounding the future of work and non-standard forms of employment have, especially in the United States, used the film industry as an exemplar and signifier of future industrial change. Much research conducted in the film industry implicitly or explicitly draws on the flexible specialisation framework to understand industrial organisation and labour market operation. It is the contention of this paper, however, that the dual labour market analysis associated with flexible specialisation explanations is too simplistic, failing to reflect the range of factors affecting labour market organisation and operation. The resulting static and atomised analysis is, as such, ill-equipped to conceptualise the complex patterns of organisation and movement evident in the highly uncertain context of film making. Furthermore, the operation and organisation of the labour market cannot be understood independently of the management of labour within the labour process. Production company management set the context and targets of work (in terms of work scheduling, pay, and conditions) and departmental heads retain method autonomy and control the recruitment and performance of `their' group members. However, this is the case within a context in which people need to continually resecure work and maintain positions within groups and contacts. Therefore, a seeming lack of control over tasks at the point of production is reinforced by the use of labour market mechanisms and influences their form.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Blair, 2001. "`You're only as Good as Your Last Job': The Labour Process and Labour Market in the British Film Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(1), pages 149-169, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:15:y:2001:i:1:p:149-169
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170122118814
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rubery, Jill, 1978. "Structured Labour Markets, Worker Organisation and Low Pay," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 2(1), pages 17-36, March.
    2. Susan Christopherson & Michael Storper, 1989. "The Effects of Flexible Specialization on Industrial Politics and the Labor Market: The Motion Picture Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 42(3), pages 331-347, April.
    3. Aksoy, Asu & Robins, Kevin, 1992. "Hollywood for the 21st Century: Global Competition for Critical Mass in Image Markets," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, March.
    4. Storper, Michael, 1989. "The Transition to Flexible Specialisation in the U.S. Film Industry: External Economies, the Division of Labour, and the Crossing of Industrial Divides," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(2), pages 273-305, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rosenfeld, Martin T. W. & Hornych, Christoph, 2008. "Is There a Way for Old Industrial Districts to Become Attractive for Cultural Industry? The Case of Media Businesses in Halle (Saale), Germany," IWH Discussion Papers 15/2008, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    2. Allen J. Scott, 2008. "Resurgent Metropolis: Economy, Society and Urbanization in an Interconnected World," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 548-564, September.
    3. Roberta Comunian & Alessandra Faggian & Qian Cher Li, 2010. "Unrewarded careers in the creative class: The strange case of bohemian graduates," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(2), pages 389-410, June.

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