Jo Mcbride
Biographic Data
| ID | 249694 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jo Mcbride |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jo |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcbride |
| SIGNATURE | MCBRIDE J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bradford |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3921-1916 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
From worker representation to the representation of work
This paper aims to stimulate debate within the employment involvement participation, and worker representation, discussions. We use the work of cleaning in the UK as our main example. This work was perceived as ‘essential’ during the Covid19 pandemic, and ‘valued’ in the social perception and the nationalist discourse of solidarity and sacrifice. Yet there was a particular set of political interventions that contested the need for rewarding such …
We are the backbone of the community’
This article critically examines the complex dynamics related to dignity at work (DAW) in contemporary precarious employment in the United Kingdom. It argues that current DAW frameworks are typically focused on workers with one job, but what about the experiences of those who need to work in multiple jobs to make ends meet? To consider this, the article focuses on the complex experiences related to dignity when navigating between and participatin…
Gendering “The Hidden Injuries of Class”
This paper presents the lived experience of white working‐class women in the UK experiencing in‐work poverty and dependent on food banks to survive. Although the precarious labor market emerges as a significant driver in the women's need for food charity, in‐depth investigations into the lives that precarity produces and reinforces remain scarce. Contributing to this gap, our paper uses an ethnographic qualitative approach drawing on feminist res…
Beyond work intensification
This article 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 recognise the difficulty of the work and its 'distribution'. However, we argue a need to …
Working to Live, Not Living to Work
This article critically examines how low-paid workers, who need to work in more than one legitimate job to make ends meet, attempt to reconcile work and life. The concept of work-life articulation is utilised to investigate the experiences, strategies and practicalities of combining multiple employment with domestic and care duties. Based on detailed qualitative research, the findings reveal workers with two, three, four, five and even seven diff…
You End Up with Nothing
Set in the context of the recent unprecedented upsurge of in-work poverty (IWP) in the UK - which currently exceeds out of work poverty - this article presents an account of the realities of experiencing poverty and being employed. Central issues of low-pay, limited working hours, underemployment and constrained employment opportunities combine to generate severe financial complexities and challenges. This testimony, taken comparatively over a ye…
Green shoots from the grass roots? The N ational S hop S tewards N etwork
This paper presents an analysis of the significance of the Internet in rebuilding a shop stewards movement in a time of circumscribed trade union organisation and power. It takes the National Shop Stewards Network as the focus for empirical research and places the argument within the broader context of two historical periods of trade union activity. The study finds significant historical parallels in terms of the key questions of the relationship…
Because we were living it
This article presents an individual's experience of a strike lasting one year and nine months. It brings to readers' attention the unrecognized work that is involved in maintaining a strike - the continuous organization of 'working' the strike, ongoing networking with other activists for support, constant quests for help from trade unions, politicians and others and ongoing campaigns to raise funding and awareness. It also highlights the personal…
Trade Union Learning Strategies and Migrant Workers
This paper examines trade union networking and community-oriented activity through the recent development of learning strategies in relation to migrant workers. The paper locates the discussion on learning in relation to union attempts to develop a broader urban and community-based view of the union as an organisation. It assesses the innovative ways trade unions deploy their learning strategies given the challenges associated with a liberal mark…
Dimensions of collectivism
This essay argues that the notion of there being a decline in collectivism does not adequately engage with a whole new set of initiatives within labour process theory on collectivism in its various forms. These debates demonstrate how diverse social influences and experiences, and the memory of previous experiences and collective endeavours, are essential features that must be acknowledged in terms of their implications. There are series of inter…
The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings
This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft‐based trade unionism and long‐established structures and cultures within sector‐based employment relationships. The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high‐performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives
Mapping worker collectivism
Discussions relating to trade union decline since 1979 have been well rehearsed in the literature. An underlying theme in much of this dialogue is the supposedly corresponding decline of workplace collectivism due to a rise in individualism (Bacon and Storey, 1996; Bassett and Cave, 1993). Others have suggested that there has been a decline in the collective identity of the working class per se due to a rise in consumerism and affluence (Lash and…
Renewal or resilience
This article provides empirical data from the Tyneside Maritime Construction Industry (TMCI) to contribute to the union renewal/resilience debate. The aim of the study is a focus on the effectiveness of shop steward organisation in the industry, levels of activity in membership participation and its significance for union democracy, all of which are important factors in the debate. The paper supports the resilience argument and adds a further dev…
Working to Live, Not Living to Work
This article critically examines how low-paid workers, who need to work in more than one legitimate job to make ends meet, attempt to reconcile work and life. The concept of work-life articulation is utilised to investigate the experiences, strategies and practicalities of combining multiple employment with domestic and care duties. Based on detailed qualitative research, the findings reveal workers with two, three, four, five and even seven diff…
Dimensions of collectivism
This essay argues that the notion of there being a decline in collectivism does not adequately engage with a whole new set of initiatives within labour process theory on collectivism in its various forms. These debates demonstrate how diverse social influences and experiences, and the memory of previous experiences and collective endeavours, are essential features that must be acknowledged in terms of their implications. There are series of inter…
You End Up with Nothing
Set in the context of the recent unprecedented upsurge of in-work poverty (IWP) in the UK - which currently exceeds out of work poverty - this article presents an account of the realities of experiencing poverty and being employed. Central issues of low-pay, limited working hours, underemployment and constrained employment opportunities combine to generate severe financial complexities and challenges. This testimony, taken comparatively over a ye…
Because we were living it
This article presents an individual's experience of a strike lasting one year and nine months. It brings to readers' attention the unrecognized work that is involved in maintaining a strike - the continuous organization of 'working' the strike, ongoing networking with other activists for support, constant quests for help from trade unions, politicians and others and ongoing campaigns to raise funding and awareness. It also highlights the personal…
Renewal or resilience
This article provides empirical data from the Tyneside Maritime Construction Industry (TMCI) to contribute to the union renewal/resilience debate. The aim of the study is a focus on the effectiveness of shop steward organisation in the industry, levels of activity in membership participation and its significance for union democracy, all of which are important factors in the debate. The paper supports the resilience argument and adds a further dev…
Mapping worker collectivism
Discussions relating to trade union decline since 1979 have been well rehearsed in the literature. An underlying theme in much of this dialogue is the supposedly corresponding decline of workplace collectivism due to a rise in individualism (Bacon and Storey, 1996; Bassett and Cave, 1993). Others have suggested that there has been a decline in the collective identity of the working class per se due to a rise in consumerism and affluence (Lash and…
Trade Union Learning Strategies and Migrant Workers
This paper examines trade union networking and community-oriented activity through the recent development of learning strategies in relation to migrant workers. The paper locates the discussion on learning in relation to union attempts to develop a broader urban and community-based view of the union as an organisation. It assesses the innovative ways trade unions deploy their learning strategies given the challenges associated with a liberal mark…
Beyond work intensification
This article 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 recognise the difficulty of the work and its 'distribution'. However, we argue a need to …
Green shoots from the grass roots? The N ational S hop S tewards N etwork
This paper presents an analysis of the significance of the Internet in rebuilding a shop stewards movement in a time of circumscribed trade union organisation and power. It takes the National Shop Stewards Network as the focus for empirical research and places the argument within the broader context of two historical periods of trade union activity. The study finds significant historical parallels in terms of the key questions of the relationship…
The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings
This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft‐based trade unionism and long‐established structures and cultures within sector‐based employment relationships. The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high‐performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives
Gendering “The Hidden Injuries of Class”
This paper presents the lived experience of white working‐class women in the UK experiencing in‐work poverty and dependent on food banks to survive. Although the precarious labor market emerges as a significant driver in the women's need for food charity, in‐depth investigations into the lives that precarity produces and reinforces remain scarce. Contributing to this gap, our paper uses an ethnographic qualitative approach drawing on feminist res…
Renewal or resilience
This article provides empirical data from the Tyneside Maritime Construction Industry (TMCI) to contribute to the union renewal/resilience debate. The aim of the study is a focus on the effectiveness of shop steward organisation in the industry, levels of activity in membership participation and its significance for union democracy, all of which are important factors in the debate. The paper supports the resilience argument and adds a further dev…
Mapping worker collectivism
Discussions relating to trade union decline since 1979 have been well rehearsed in the literature. An underlying theme in much of this dialogue is the supposedly corresponding decline of workplace collectivism due to a rise in individualism (Bacon and Storey, 1996; Bassett and Cave, 1993). Others have suggested that there has been a decline in the collective identity of the working class per se due to a rise in consumerism and affluence (Lash and…
The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings
This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft‐based trade unionism and long‐established structures and cultures within sector‐based employment relationships. The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high‐performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives
Dimensions of collectivism
This essay argues that the notion of there being a decline in collectivism does not adequately engage with a whole new set of initiatives within labour process theory on collectivism in its various forms. These debates demonstrate how diverse social influences and experiences, and the memory of previous experiences and collective endeavours, are essential features that must be acknowledged in terms of their implications. There are series of inter…
Trade Union Learning Strategies and Migrant Workers
This paper examines trade union networking and community-oriented activity through the recent development of learning strategies in relation to migrant workers. The paper locates the discussion on learning in relation to union attempts to develop a broader urban and community-based view of the union as an organisation. It assesses the innovative ways trade unions deploy their learning strategies given the challenges associated with a liberal mark…
Because we were living it
This article presents an individual's experience of a strike lasting one year and nine months. It brings to readers' attention the unrecognized work that is involved in maintaining a strike - the continuous organization of 'working' the strike, ongoing networking with other activists for support, constant quests for help from trade unions, politicians and others and ongoing campaigns to raise funding and awareness. It also highlights the personal…
Green shoots from the grass roots? The N ational S hop S tewards N etwork
This paper presents an analysis of the significance of the Internet in rebuilding a shop stewards movement in a time of circumscribed trade union organisation and power. It takes the National Shop Stewards Network as the focus for empirical research and places the argument within the broader context of two historical periods of trade union activity. The study finds significant historical parallels in terms of the key questions of the relationship…
You End Up with Nothing
Set in the context of the recent unprecedented upsurge of in-work poverty (IWP) in the UK - which currently exceeds out of work poverty - this article presents an account of the realities of experiencing poverty and being employed. Central issues of low-pay, limited working hours, underemployment and constrained employment opportunities combine to generate severe financial complexities and challenges. This testimony, taken comparatively over a ye…
Beyond work intensification
This article 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 recognise the difficulty of the work and its 'distribution'. However, we argue a need to …
Working to Live, Not Living to Work
This article critically examines how low-paid workers, who need to work in more than one legitimate job to make ends meet, attempt to reconcile work and life. The concept of work-life articulation is utilised to investigate the experiences, strategies and practicalities of combining multiple employment with domestic and care duties. Based on detailed qualitative research, the findings reveal workers with two, three, four, five and even seven diff…
Gendering “The Hidden Injuries of Class”
This paper presents the lived experience of white working‐class women in the UK experiencing in‐work poverty and dependent on food banks to survive. Although the precarious labor market emerges as a significant driver in the women's need for food charity, in‐depth investigations into the lives that precarity produces and reinforces remain scarce. Contributing to this gap, our paper uses an ethnographic qualitative approach drawing on feminist res…
From worker representation to the representation of work
This paper aims to stimulate debate within the employment involvement participation, and worker representation, discussions. We use the work of cleaning in the UK as our main example. This work was perceived as ‘essential’ during the Covid19 pandemic, and ‘valued’ in the social perception and the nationalist discourse of solidarity and sacrifice. Yet there was a particular set of political interventions that contested the need for rewarding such …
We are the backbone of the community’
This article critically examines the complex dynamics related to dignity at work (DAW) in contemporary precarious employment in the United Kingdom. It argues that current DAW frameworks are typically focused on workers with one job, but what about the experiences of those who need to work in multiple jobs to make ends meet? To consider this, the article focuses on the complex experiences related to dignity when navigating between and participatin…
Employment and Welfare Studies (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economics (6 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Work (physics (5 works) · Digital Economy and Work Transformation (4 works)