When workplace unionism in global value chains does not function well : exploring the impediments

Improving working conditions at the bottom of global value chains has become a central issue in our global economy. In this battle, trade unionism has been presented as a way for workers to make their voices heard. Therefore, it is strongly promoted by most social standards. However, establishing a well-functioning trade union is not as obvious as it may seem. Using a comparative case study approach, we examine impediments to farm-level unionism in the cut flower industry in Ethiopia. For this purpose, we propose an integrated framework combining two lenses, namely a vertical one (governance and structure of global value chains) and a horizontal one (socio-economic context). We identify 10 impediments that point to three major dimensions contributing to unionisation. These three dimensions include awareness of and interest from workers, legitimacy of trade unions, and capacity of trade unions to act. Furthermore, our results suggest that private social standards may, in certain cases, be counterproductive for the efficient functioning of trade unions. Although we argue that there is no ‘quick fix’ solution to weak workplace unionism at the bottom of global value chains, we stress the importance of considering the dynamics of, and interactions between, the impediments when designing potential support measures that mitigate negative impacts

Special issue introduction: Creativity and creative work in contemporary working contexts

Creativity within working contexts, including organisations and professional domains, is an object of inquiry for educators, managers and researchers. Their concerns vary and give rise to different questions, as a closer examination of different cases reveals. What, for instance, is understood to be the site and nature of creativity? What exactly is meant by ‘creative work’ or a ‘creative career’? What is assumed to operate as a constraint or obstacle to creative processes and creative working and, conversely, how are they seen to be nurtured? Such questions do not admit of easy answers because creativity in contemporary work contexts is a multifaceted phenomenon. As the articles in this special issue show, any attempt to investigate it must contend with the multiple definitions and associations of the creative

Tracing the transition from study to a contemporary creative working life: the trajectories of professional musicians

The classical music academy is a site dominated by traditional meanings of creative practice and an image of the professional creative career as solo performer that is fully available to only a very few students after graduating. The purpose of the study reported in this paper is to explore career-young professional pianists’ talk about the transition from study within a music academy to working life. The focus is on the ways in which they characterize the nature and significance of this transition from very traditional practice and study, and how they (re)negotiate their identities as professional musicians and pianists in contemporary working life. Four classical pianists were interviewed in-depth about their musicianship, including their transition from study to working life. The qualitative analyses presented here suggest that, as they talked about their transitions and developing musicianship, the speakers constructed, re-constructed and oriented to notions of professional trajectories. Such trajectories are emergent, relational and contextually constituted (Sawyer 2003; MacDonald and Miell 2002; Moran and John-Steiner 2004). Rather than being fixed or dependent on communal expectations, they reflect creative freedom and independence, encompassing multiple influences. Crucially, the transition from study to working life is implicated in the process of assuming agency in respect of one’s own musicianship and career—a process that involves identity work, the (re)negotiation of pathways, narrations and trajectories

The professional agency of teacher educators amid academic discourses

Agency has been seen as fundamental in the renegotiation of professional identities. However, it is unclear how teacher educators exercise their professional agency in their work, and how multiple discourses frame and restrict the practice of their professional agency. This study examines how teacher educators practise agency in negotiating their professional identities amid the multiple discourses emerging from the academic context of their work. The aim was to investigate educators’ locally expressed professional agency in the context of the more global discourses that may construct teacher educator identities. The analysis made use of applied thematic discursive analysis to address patterns of talk relating to teacher educators’ manifestations of agency within their work as teachers and researchers. Professional agency was found to be strong in the construction of their teacher identity. By contrast, the construction of their researcher identity was subjugated, complex and characterised by a lack of resources. Furthermore, teaching and researching were mainly described as two separate functions. In discussion these findings are analysed to show what they imply for the renegotiation of teacher educators’ professional identities and for the development of teacher education in an academic institution.peerReviewe

Polymorphism in the lipase genes of Geotrichum candidum strains

The fungus Geotrichum candidum produces extracellular lipases. Purification and characterization of different lipase isoforms from various G. candidum strains is difficult due to the close physical and biochemical properties of the isoforms. Consequently, the characterization of these enzymes and their substrate specificites has been difficult. We have determined the lipase genes present in four strains of G. candidum (ATCC 34614, NRCC 205002, NRRL Y-552 and NRRL Y-553) by molecular cloning and DNA sequencing. Each strain contains two genes similar to the previously identified lipase I and lipase II cDNAs. Our data suggest that no other related lipase genes are present in these strains. Each lipase-gene family shows sequence variation (polymorphism) that is confirmed by Southern-blot analysis. This polymorphism and the sequence differences between lipase I and lipase II have been localized within the previously determined three-dimensional structure of lipase II. Although most of the amino acid substitutions are located on the protein surface, some are present in structural features possibly involved in determining substrate specificity.NRC publication: Ye