The future of work: Towards a progressive agenda for all. EPC Issue Paper 9 DECEMBER 2019

Europe’s labour markets and the world of work in general are being transformed by the megatrends of globalisation, the fragmentation of the production and value chain, demographic ageing, new societal aspirations and the digitalisation of the economy. This Issue Paper presents the findings and policy recommendations of “The future of work – Towards a progressive agenda for all”, a European Policy Centre research project. Its main objectives were to expand public knowledge about these profound changes and to reverse the negative narrative often associated with this topic. It aimed to show how human decisions and the right policies can mitigate upcoming disruptions and provide European and national policymakers with a comprehensive toolkit for a progressive agenda for the new world of work

Survival through networks: the 'grip' of the administrative links in the Russian post-Soviet context

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Based on an analysis of the post-Soviet transformation experience of four defence sector organizations in a Russian region where the defence sector occupies a substantial part of the local economy, this article develops a typology of network relationships: Grooved Inter-relationship Patterns (Gr’ip) networks and Fluid Inter-relationship Patterns (Fl’ip) networks. This typology can be applied to a range of transition/emerging market and low system trust contexts. Gr’ip networks, in this case, represent the persisting legacy of the Soviet command-administrative system. Fl’ip networks are here an attempt by the defence companies to link into the civilian supply chains of a developing market economy. This article argues that Gr’ip networks had and still have a crucial role to play in Russian enterprises’ survival and development

Preparing for the Bomb: The Development of Civil Defence Policy in Canada, 1948–1963

During the period 1948 to 1963 civil defence in Canada developed in a number of stages that reflected changes in technology, weaponry and scientific discovery. The first stage of development, roughly between 1948 and 1952, witnessed only minor developments. Civil defence followed the Second World War practice, with a focus on air raid shelters and, if possible, evacuation. In the years 1952 to 1954 as the possibility of a nuclear attack became more real as a result of the Soviet development of intercontinental bombers, civil defence officials moved towards a policy of mass evacuation of target areas and the rescue of survivors. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb and the discovery of radioactive fallout in 1954 led to yet another change in civil defence plans. Civil defence officials became more convinced that mass evacuation of target areas was the answer, however, fallout shelters were also recommended for those areas outside the target area likely to be blanketed with radioactive debris. In the late 1950s and into the early 1960s civil defence again had to be redefined as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were developed and evacuation was no longer possible as nuclear attack could occur virtually without warning

Alliances in action: Opportunities and threats to solidarity between workers and service users in health and social care disputes

This paper reflects upon the recent mental-health nurses' strike following the sacking of Karen Reissman by Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust. Nursing strikes are rare, though there is a significant strand of militancy in the history of nursing. Analysis of the Manchester dispute and associated media coverage is relied on as a point of departure for a more general discussion around issues of solidarity and connections between trade union and service-user activism. These issues are explored in a context of the industrial and social relations of mental-health care. It is argued that regressive, stereotypical representations of mental health, which appeal to fears surrounding public safety, are a feature of this industrial-relation territory. This paper proposes that social relations of work and connections with the wider community could be transformed by a dual strategy: pursuing a more progressive and inclusive understanding of mental health and building stronger alliances between trade union, community and service-user activists