Collective narratives and politics in the contemporary study of work : the new management practices debate

In this article we explore the question of how as sociologists of work we might research those who constitute the substance of our labour process. We approach this question through an examination of the New Management Practices debate, principally in the labour movement where a distinctive and critical view of NMP developed in the late 1980s. Second, we argue that there is a link between this debate and the wider politics of labour process discussion both within and beyond the labour movement which has witnessed a shift away from an earlier engagement with worker interventions. In response we suggest the need to re-evaluate the nature of academic engagement with labour thus reanimating a closer engagement with labour-in-work and collective worker narratives

Beyond Work Intensification: the contradictions and ironies of the changing nature of ‘unskilled’ work in a context of austerity and organisational change

This paper argues, through a study of cleaning workers, a need to reconsider the changing nature of unskilled work. In particular, how it has, ironically, become more complex and challenging in some cases due to economic and political developments. For example, in relation to questions of dirty work, stigma and issues of dignity, aspects of this literature recognises the difficulty of the work and its ‘distribution’. However, we argue a need to draw further attention to the ‘mechanics’, processes and complexities of this work and the way it is subject to significant contextual changes (e.g. the role of austerity) that create new complexities and challenges just as that work is being undermined and intensified. We use the voices of cleaning workers to reflect, in a rich detailed manner, the changes to their working environment and focus on the broader social perceptions of the work – from the public, employers and the workers themselves. Our analysis demonstrates a clear recognition of the complexity of that work through four dimensions - the changing spatial isolation of work; the growing context of violence due to the changing operational features of the job; the ongoing impact of state led austerity policies and limited resources, and the ongoing role of social stigma. We end the paper discussing how workers’ control emerges as an important issue in a curious manner within this changing context

Scalar sigma meson effects in rho and omega decays into pi0 pi0 gamma

The complementarity between Chiral Perturbation Theory and the Linear Sigma Model in the scalar channel is exploited to study $\pi^0\pi^0$ production in $\rho$ and $\omega$ radiative decays, where the effects of a low mass scalar resonance $\sigma(500)$ should manifest. The recently reported data on $\rho\to\pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ seem to require the contribution of a low mass and moderately narrow $\sigma(500)$. The properties of this controversial state could be fixed by improving the accuracy of these measurements. Data on $\omega\to\pi^0\pi^0\gamma$ can also be accommodated in our framework, but are much less sensitive to the $\sigma(500)$ properties.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

'Justice for Janitors' goes Dutch: The Limits and Possibilities of Unions' Adoption of Organising in a Context of Regulated Social Partnership

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link

Polarization entangled photon-pair source based on a type-II PPLN waveguide emitting at a telecom wavelength

We report the realization of a fiber coupled polarization entangled photon-pair source at 1310 nm based on a birefringent titanium in-diffused waveguide integrated on periodically poled lithium niobate. By taking advantage of a dedicated and high-performance setup, we characterized the quantum properties of the pairs by measuring two-photon interference in both Hong-Ou-Mandel and standard Bell inequality configurations. We obtained, for the two sets of measurements, interference net visibilities reaching nearly 100%, which represent important and competitive results compared to similar waveguide-based configurations already reported. These results prove the relevance of our approach as an enabling technology for long-distance quantum communication.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic

Charge asymmetries in e+e- -> pi+ pi- gamma at the phi resonance

We consider the forward-backward pion charge asymmetry for the e^{+}e^{-}\to\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\gamma process. At tree level we consider bremsstrahlung and double resonance contributions. Although the latter contribution is formally sub-leading, it is enhanced at low dipion invariant mass due to $\rho$ resonant effects. We consider also four alternative models to describe the final state radiation at the loop level: Resonance Chiral Perturbation Theory, Unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory, Kaon Loop Model and Linear Sigma Model. The last three models yield results compatible with experimental data. The Kaon Loop Model requires an energy dependent phase to achieve the agreement.Comment: Revised version, conclusions changed, 11 pages, 8 figs, version to appear in PL

Quantisation without Gauge Fixing: Avoiding Gribov Ambiguities through the Physical Projector

The quantisation of gauge invariant systems usually proceeds through some gauge fixing procedure of one type or another. Typically for most cases, such gauge fixings are plagued by Gribov ambiguities, while it is only for an admissible gauge fixing that the correct dynamical description of the system is represented, especially with regards to non perturbative phenomena. However, any gauge fixing procedure whatsoever may be avoided altogether, by using rather a recently proposed new approach based on the projection operator onto physical gauge invariant states only, which is necessarily free on any such issues. These different aspects of gauge invariant systems are explicitely analysed within a solvable U(1) gauge invariant quantum mechanical model related to the dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, plain LaTeX fil

Scalar meson dynamics in Chiral Perturbation Theory

A comparison of the linear sigma model (L$\sigma$M) and Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) predictions for pion and kaon dynamics is presented. Lowest and next-to-leading order terms in the ChPT amplitudes are reproduced if one restricts to scalar resonance exchange. Some low energy constants of the order $p^4$ ChPT Lagrangian are fixed in terms of scalar meson masses. Present values of these low energy constants are compatible with the L$\sigma$M dynamics. We conclude that more accurate values would be most useful either to falsify the L$\sigma$M or to show its capability to shed some light on the controversial scalar physics.Comment: 9 pages, REVTeX 4.0. Final version accepted for publicatio