Collective values in an entrepreneurial world: imagining craft labour in cultural work

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 12, Issue 1

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Collective values in an entrepreneurial world: imagining craft labour in cultural work

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research-article

Author(s): Jennifer Hambleton

Publication date (Print): Spring 2018

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: unions, cultural labour, craft, entertainment industries, precarious work

Abstract

Established entertainment industry unions are often perceived to be in decline in a new landscape of work that requires new forms of organising, but the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Allied Crafts (IATSE), a union that represents precarious workers in the entertainment industries in North America continues to expand its membership. This article analyses a shift from seniority-based to skill-based hiring practices in IATSE locals that began in the mid-1990s. Case study research on the formation of a skill-based Canadian IATSE local in 1998 finds that skill-based and seniority-based hiring are each representative of different conceptions of labour. However, the picture this case study sketches also suggests that these seemingly opposing concepts of labour – skill-based and seniority-based – are entangled. The idea of hiring based on ‘skill’ proved to be an effective organising strategy, but intensified precarious working conditions for IATSE employees, and relied on a more entrepreneurial conception of labour.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Spring 2018

Volume: 12

Issue: 1

Pages: 43-61

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.12.1.0043

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.12.1.0043

SO-VID: caf2c8a8-681c-48c5-b9be-226d07822e43

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

Keywords: craft,cultural labour,entertainment industries,unions,precarious work

References

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Atkinson, W. & K. Randle (2014) ‘“Sorry mate, you're finishing tonight”: A historical perspective on employment flexibility in the UK film industry’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation 8 (1): 49–68.
Banks, M. (2007) The Politics of Cultural Work . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Banks, M. (2010) ‘Craft labour and creative industries’, International Journal of Cultural Policy 16 (3): 305–21.
Beck, U. & E. Beck-Gernsheim (2002) Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and Its Social and Political Consequences . London: Sage.
Biernacki, R. (1995) The Fabrication of Labor: Germany and Britain , 1640—1914. Studies on the History of Society and Culture 22. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Biernacki, R. (2001) ‘Labor as an imagined commodity’, Politics & Society 29 (2): 173–206.
Caldwell, J. (2010) ‘Breaking ranks: Backdoor workforces, messy workflows, and craft disaggregation’, Popular Communication 8 (3): 221–26.
Christopherson, S. (2008) ‘Beyond the self-expressive creative worker’, Theory, Culture & Society 25 (7—8): 73–95.
Christopherson, S. (2009) ‘Working in the creative economy: Risk, adaptation and the persistence of exclusionary networks’ in A. McKinlay & C. Smith (eds) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative Industries, Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment, New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 72–90.
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Randle, K. & N. Culkin (2009) ‘Getting in and getting on in Hollywood: Freelance careers in an uncertain industry’ in C. Smith & A. McKinley (eds) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative Industries , New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 93–115.
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Van Bourg, V. (1995) ‘Sixty-second international I.A.T.S.E. convention, Fontainebleau Hilton Head Hotel, Hollywood Florida, July 17–21’ in Combined Convention Proceedings, 1995–2005 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada [Transcript], New York: AFL-CIO, CLC: 73.
White, T.R. (2015) Blue-Collar Broadway: The Craft and Industry of American Theatre . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Amman, J. (2002) ‘Union and the new economy: Motion picture and television unions offer a model for new media professionals’, Journal of Labor & Society 6 (2): 111–31.

[2] Atkinson, W. & K. Randle (2014) ‘“Sorry mate, you're finishing tonight”: A historical perspective on employment flexibility in the UK film industry’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation 8 (1): 49–68.

[3] Banks, M. (2007) The Politics of Cultural Work . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[4] Banks, M. (2010) ‘Craft labour and creative industries’, International Journal of Cultural Policy 16 (3): 305–21.

[5] Beck, U. & E. Beck-Gernsheim (2002) Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and Its Social and Political Consequences . London: Sage.

[6] Biernacki, R. (1995) The Fabrication of Labor: Germany and Britain , 1640—1914. Studies on the History of Society and Culture 22. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[7] Biernacki, R. (2001) ‘Labor as an imagined commodity’, Politics & Society 29 (2): 173–206.

[8] Caldwell, J. (2010) ‘Breaking ranks: Backdoor workforces, messy workflows, and craft disaggregation’, Popular Communication 8 (3): 221–26.

[9] Christopherson, S. (2008) ‘Beyond the self-expressive creative worker’, Theory, Culture & Society 25 (7—8): 73–95.

[10] Christopherson, S. (2009) ‘Working in the creative economy: Risk, adaptation and the persistence of exclusionary networks’ in A. McKinlay & C. Smith (eds) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative Industries, Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment, New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 72–90.

[11] Cohen, N.S. (2012) ‘Cultural work as a site of struggle: Freelancers and exploitation’, Triple C: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 10 (2): 141–55.

[12] Conor, B., R. Gill & S. Taylor (2015) ‘Introduction: Gender and creative labour’ in B. Conor, R. Gill & S. Taylor (eds) Gender and Creative Labour , Malden: Wiley-Blackwell: 1–24.

[13] Crabtree, S. & P. Beudert (2005) Scenic Art for the Theatre: History of Tools, Techniques (2nd ed.). China: Focal Press.

[14] Dawson, A. (2012) ‘Challenging Lilywhite Hollywood: African Americans and the demand for racial equality in the motion picture industry, 1963–1974’, The Journal of Popular Culture 45 (6): 1206–25.

[15] Dawson, A.A. (1948) ‘Hollywood's labor troubles’, ILR Review 1 (4): 638–47.

[16] de Peuter, G. & N.S. Cohen (2015) ‘Emerging labor politics in creative industries’ in K. Oakley & J. O'Connor (eds) The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries , New York: Routledge: 305–18.

[17] Du Gay, P. (1997) ‘Organizing identity: Making up people at work’ in P. du Gay (ed.) Production of Culture/Cultures of Production. Culture, Media, and Identities , London: Sage in association with the Open University: 285–344.

[18] Eurofound (2015) New Forms of Employment . Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

[19] Golodner, J. (1996) ‘Foreword’ in L. Gray & R. Seeber (eds) Under the Stars: Essays on Labor Relations in Arts and Entertainment , Ithaca: ILR Press: ix–#x2014;xi.

[20] Gray, L. (2001) ‘Entertainment unions tune up for turbulent times’, New Labor Forum 9: 122–31.

[21] Gray, L. & R. Seeber (1996a) ‘The industry and the unions: An overview’ in L.S. Gray & R.L. Seeber (eds) Under the Stars: Essays on Labor Relations in Arts and Entertainment , Ithaca: ILR Press: 15–49.

[22] Gray, L. & R. Seeber (1996b) ‘Introduction’ in L.S. Gray & R.L. Seeber (eds) Under the Stars: Essays on Labor Relations in Arts and Entertainment , Ithaca: ILR Press: 1–14.

[23] Haunschild, A. & D.R. Eikhof (2009) ‘Bringing creativity to market: Actors as self-employed employees’ in C. Smith & A. McKinley (eds) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative Industries , New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 156–75.

[24] Hesmondhalgh, D. & S. Baker (2011) Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries. Culture, Economy and the Social. London: Routledge.

[25] Hesmondhalgh, D. & M.J. Banks (2016) ‘Internationalizing labor activism: Building solidarity among writers’ guilds’ in M. Curtin & K. Sanson (eds) Precarious Creativity: Global Media, Local Labor , Oakland: University of California Press: 267–80.

[26] Kraft, J.P. (1996) Stage to Studio: Musicians and the Sound Revolution, 1890–1950 . Studies in Industry and Society 9. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

[27] Lewchuck, W., M. LaFleche, D. Dyson, L. Goldring, A. Meisner, S. Procyk, D. Rosen, J. Shields, P. Viducis & S. Vrankulj (2013) ‘It's more than poverty: Employment precarity and household well-being’. Accessed April 13, 2018 from https://www.unitedwaytyr.com/document.doc?id=91.

[28] McKercher, C. and V. Mosco (2006) ‘Divided they stand: Hollywood unions in the information age’, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation 1 (1): 130–43.

[29] McRobbie, A. (2002) ‘Clubs to companies: Notes on the decline of political culture in speeded up creative worlds’, Cultural Studies 16 (4): 516–31.

[30] McRobbie, A. (2016) Be Creative: Making a Living in the New Culture Industries . Cambridge: Polity.

[31] Negus, K. (2002) ‘Identities and industries: The cultural formation of aesthetic economies’ in P. du Gay & M. Pryke (eds) Cultural Economy , London: Sage: 115–31.

[32] Paul, A. & A. Kleingartner (1994) ‘Flexible production and the transformation of industrial relations in the motion picture and television industry’, ILR Review 47 (4): 663–78.

[33] Perkins, K.A. (1982) ‘Black Backstage Workers, 1900–1969’ in Black American Literature Forum , Terre Haute: School of Education, Indiana State University: 160–63.

[34] Randle, K. & N. Culkin (2009) ‘Getting in and getting on in Hollywood: Freelance careers in an uncertain industry’ in C. Smith & A. McKinley (eds) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative Industries , New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 93–115.

[35] Ross, A. (2009) Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times . New York: New York University Press.

[36] Simmons, L. (2008) ‘IATSE President Thomas Short retires: Matthew Loeb to take over the reins’, Hollywoodreporter, July 31. Accessed April 13, 2018 from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/iatse-president-thomas-short-retires-116665.

[37] Van Bourg, V. (1995) ‘Sixty-second international I.A.T.S.E. convention, Fontainebleau Hilton Head Hotel, Hollywood Florida, July 17–21’ in Combined Convention Proceedings, 1995–2005 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada [Transcript], New York: AFL-CIO, CLC: 73.

[38] White, T.R. (2015) Blue-Collar Broadway: The Craft and Industry of American Theatre . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.