ALL CITIES ARE DIFFERENT: Moving creative workforce research forward to a new specificity

The cultural sector and its workforce are often positioned as economic drivers, and important themes within this discourse have included relationships between the cultural sector and human capital, urban regeneration, community engagement, branding, and image. Little of the research underpinning these arguments has documented the work practices, orientations, attitudes, career trajectories and skill requirements of individual creative workers, and even less has considered the spatially specific nature of labour conditions and career trajectories to produce a differentiated analysis of work and career. What happens within any locality over time will partially result from the changing roles it plays within the broader spatial divisions of labour within which it is emplaced. However, we argue that it is insufficient to claim that all cities are different; rather, there is a need to examine the specificity of work in each location.In this paper, the second in a series that examine specific elements of creative work, we consider spatiality with specific reference to the use of networks. Drawing on a case study of the film and television industries in Perth we raise the possibility of approaching such research by combining the global production network approach, labour process analysis, and research that looks within individual practice

Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages

The debate over skill and skill shortages is full of complexity and contradiction. For example, just what is meant by skill and skill shortages is, at the very least, open to debate (Shah and Burke 2005). Furthermore, at the same time as Grugulis and Lloyd (2010, p. 92) point to a shift away from attempts to locate skill within a broader analysis of capitalist development and towards a narrower explanation of particular trends and concepts, theories are emerging about the changing nature of the economy - the knowledge economy, for example - which have major implications for the nature of skill and skill formation. Skill shortages are used to justify importing skilled labour from outside the state and country, echoing more generally a disproportionate focus on supply side issues in the debate (Hall 2011), at the same time as skill itself, once seen as a driver of prosperity, is placed alongside productivity as the driver of prosperity (Keep and Mayhew 2010). Internationally, this is reflected in policy documents which are 'couched in terms that ring with evangelical zeal' about the competitive and social importance of the supply of skills (Hayward and James 2004, p. 1)

Creative Labour: Towards a Renewed Research Agenda

This article focuses on the role of creative labour, which has figured prominently in narratives of ‘new capitalism’ that promise to change standard employment relations and generate new modes of innovation. To move beyond such broad claims a more detailed picture of the characteristics and dynamics of work and employment of creative workers in different industries and groups is required. In this paper we begin by outlining our theoretical approach based on a combination of global production analysis, labour process analysis and a relational view of territorial networks. We proceed by examining the definitions used to define particular industries and workers as cultural or creative and then review recent analysis of work and employment relations in the cultural sector

Symbolic Analysts in the New Economy? Call Centres in Less Favoured Regions

Previously, authors suggested that call centres will tend to evolve into 'knowledge' work (Frenkel et al., 1995). However, more recent studies recognise that call centres are diverse and need to be examined in context (Taylor et al. 2002). In relation to regional development, call centres have contributed to job creation in Europe (Richardson et al., 2002). However, despite a large increase in the general literature on call centres, and investigation of the regional implications of the growth of call centres in UK, the literature on place and location is very limited, especially in Australia (Barrett, 2001). In contrast, researchers have demonstrated a high level of interest in regard to questions of control, surveillance, work intensity and stress (Callaghan & Thompson, 2001; Kinnie et al., 2000; Taylor & Bain, 1999), but the literature has included few details about employees beyond age, gender and whether they work full- or part-time. Knowledge of employees' work histories, including their previous employment status, occupations and industry of work would provide a more comprehensive comparative basis from which more precise conclusions might be drawn. Our major aims in this study were therefore threefold: firstly, to establish the background of a new call centre in a less favoured region in Australia; secondly, to identify the personal characteristics and employment records of a sample of employees from the call centre; and thirdly, to explore the employee data in relation to their responses to the new work environment. Data were collected in three phases comprising semi-structured interviews with senior and middle managers (nine interviews), a survey of frontline employees (N=142, 365) and focus groups (ten groups with a total of 54 participants). Key findings are that the costs and benefits of the call centre are consistent with the framework of Richardson and Belt (2001), suggesting that the reality of the new call centre in a LFR is more mundane than that suggested by the rhetoric about knowledge workers and high technology investment. Secondly, the respondents to the survey produced a picture of workers who are female, young and with relatively low education levels. Many were previously unemployed and the majority came from low skilled jobs in retail, government, and service industries. They could not be classified as `knowledge workers'. Finally, the majority of respondents found both the terms and conditions worse, and stress levels higher in their new work environment, than in their previous one. Patterns appear to exist in relation to specific industries and are supported by employees' responses to open-ended questions

Absenteeism from the frontline: explaining employee stress and withdrawal in a call centre

This paper reports on a study which investigated employees' views on why they find call centre work more stressful than other types of work and the reasons for high levels of absenteeism in their workplace. Data were collected from frontline employees (n = 58) of a telecommunications call centre during ten focus groups. Content analysis of the data identified nine major themes. Overall, the study suggests that employee stress results from managers' emphases on sales and efficiency demands, directed by specific targets and high levels of electronic monitoring. Additionally, employees vary in their ability to provide emotional labour and deal with the stress of customer interactions. Other themes focused on call centre support processes and structures, teams, insufficient rest time, inadequate communication systems and human resource management issues. All the themes contributed to accumulated stress. Absenteeism was explained in terms of the accumulated stress, the perceived hygiene of the centre, proximity to others and employees' lack of identity. Finally, decreased employee commitment and withdrawal were attributed to perceived inequities in the workplace. The paper concludes with a discussion of managerial applications

Industrial Relations in the Latrobe Valley: Constructing Myths and Confounding Realities

No abstract supplie

Spike-Timing Precision and Neuronal Synchrony Are Enhanced by an Interaction between Synaptic Inhibition and Membrane Oscillations in the Amygdala

The basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA) is a critical component of the neural circuit regulating fear learning. During fear learning and recall, the amygdala and other brain regions, including the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, exhibit phase-locked oscillations in the high delta/low theta frequency band (∼2–6 Hz) that have been shown to contribute to the learning process. Network oscillations are commonly generated by inhibitory synaptic input that coordinates action potentials in groups of neurons. In the rat BLA, principal neurons spontaneously receive synchronized, inhibitory input in the form of compound, rhythmic, inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs), likely originating from burst-firing parvalbumin interneurons. Here we investigated the role of compound IPSPs in the rat and rhesus macaque BLA in regulating action potential synchrony and spike-timing precision. Furthermore, because principal neurons exhibit intrinsic oscillatory properties and resonance between 4 and 5 Hz, in the same frequency band observed during fear, we investigated whether compound IPSPs and intrinsic oscillations interact to promote rhythmic activity in the BLA at this frequency. Using whole-cell patch clamp in brain slices, we demonstrate that compound IPSPs, which occur spontaneously and are synchronized across principal neurons in both the rat and primate BLA, significantly improve spike-timing precision in BLA principal neurons for a window of ∼300 ms following each IPSP. We also show that compound IPSPs coordinate the firing of pairs of BLA principal neurons, and significantly improve spike synchrony for a window of ∼130 ms. Compound IPSPs enhance a 5 Hz calcium-dependent membrane potential oscillation (MPO) in these neurons, likely contributing to the improvement in spike-timing precision and synchronization of spiking. Activation of the cAMP-PKA signaling cascade enhanced the MPO, and inhibition of this cascade blocked the MPO. We discuss these results in the context of spike-timing dependent plasticity and modulation by neurotransmitters important for fear learning, such as dopamine

Synergistic Activation of Dopamine D1 and TrkB Receptors Mediate Gain Control of Synaptic Plasticity in the Basolateral Amygdala

Fear memory formation is thought to require dopamine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and zinc release in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), as well as the induction of long term potentiation (LTP) in BLA principal neurons. However, no study to date has shown any relationship between these processes in the BLA. Here, we have used in vitro whole-cell patch clamp recording from BLA principal neurons to investigate how dopamine, BDNF, and zinc release may interact to modulate the LTP induction in the BLA. LTP was induced by either theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol or spaced 5 times high frequency stimulation (5xHFS). Significantly, both TBS and 5xHFS induced LTP was fully blocked by the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390. LTP induction was also blocked by the BDNF scavenger, TrkB-FC, the zinc chelator, DETC, as well as by an inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), gallardin. Conversely, prior application of the dopamine reuptake inhibitor, GBR12783, or the D1 receptor agonist, SKF39393, induced robust and stable LTP in response to a sub-threshold HFS protocol (2xHFS), which does not normally induce LTP. Similarly, prior activation of TrkB receptors with either a TrkB receptor agonist, or BDNF, also reduced the threshold for LTP-induction, an effect that was blocked by the MEK inhibitor, but not by zinc chelation. Intriguingly, the TrkB receptor agonist-induced reduction of LTP threshold was fully blocked by prior application of SCH23390, and the reduction of LTP threshold induced by GBR12783 was blocked by prior application of TrkB-FC. Together, our results suggest a cellular mechanism whereby the threshold for LTP induction in BLA principal neurons is critically dependent on the level of dopamine in the extracellular milieu and the synergistic activation of postsynaptic D1 and TrkB receptors. Moreover, activation of TrkB receptors appears to be dependent on concurrent release of zinc and activation of MMPs

Learning regions, agglomeration and regional development

This paper by Al Rainnie presented at the \u27Innovation and Regional Competitiveness\u27 Conference, University of Ballarat in August 2002 argues that an important strand to emerge from the globalisation literature has been the reemergence of regions as significant actors on the economic stage. This can take a variety of forms

Globalisation - the implications for country Victoria

This is the text of a keynote speech given at the 22nd Victorian Farmers Federation Annual Conference, held in Melbourne on 17th July 2001. Sharing the platform were Minister of Trade Mark Vaile, ACTU President Sharan Burrow and Graham Blight, former President of the National Farmers Federation