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 at...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fitzgerald, Scott, Rainnie, Al, Burgess, John
Format: Journal Article
Published: National Institute of Labour Studies 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43305
_version_ 1848756654329298944
author Fitzgerald, Scott
Rainnie, Al
Burgess, John
author_facet Fitzgerald, Scott
Rainnie, Al
Burgess, John
author_sort Fitzgerald, Scott
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 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).
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:15:38Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-43305
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:15:38Z
publishDate 2013
publisher National Institute of Labour Studies
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-433052017-03-08T13:31:53Z Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages Fitzgerald, Scott Rainnie, Al Burgess, John 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). 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43305 National Institute of Labour Studies fulltext
spellingShingle Fitzgerald, Scott
Rainnie, Al
Burgess, John
Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title_full Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title_fullStr Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title_full_unstemmed Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title_short Rediscovering Braverman?: Political Economy, Skill, and Skill Shortages
title_sort rediscovering braverman?: political economy, skill, and skill shortages
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43305