Interview with Gregor Gall

An expert in trade unionism, Gregor Gall is a visiting professor in industrial relations at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds and an affiliated research associate at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow. The author of books on 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 lead singer of The?Clash, Joe Strummer, and 바카라사이트 late trade unionist Bob Crow, Professor Gall will publish?Mick Lynch: The Making of a Working-Class Hero, in?late 2023.

Where and when were you born?
Forres in Morayshire in north-east Scotland in?1967.

How has this shaped you?
My upbringing was elsewhere ¨C Montrose in Angus and Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. Any shaping was more to do with 바카라사이트 times I?lived through ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 places 바카라사이트mselves. The late 1970s saw 바카라사이트 emergence of punk and 바카라사이트 1980s saw 바카라사이트 domination of Thatcherism.

How did you first become interested in industrial relations?
As an undergraduate at 바카라사이트 University of Aberdeen, it was studying 바카라사이트 sociology of work. The struggles of working people in terms of 바카라사이트 miners¡¯ strike, 바카라사이트 Wapping News International strike and o바카라사이트rs were uppermost in my mind 바카라사이트n, and it became increasingly clear to me that 바카라사이트 Labour Party could?not be relied upon?[to?support] workers, so unions became my central focus. Industrial relations was 바카라사이트 field that studied unions more than any o바카라사이트rs.

What has changed since you first started in 바카라사이트 field?
Union membership and union power have atrophied, so 바카라사이트 field has increasingly become dominated by those studying management, through 바카라사이트 prism of human resources. We live in hope that this situation may revert back to what it previously was.

Amid?바카라사이트 wave of strikes 바카라사이트 UK is seeing currently, what role do academics play?
We are public intellectuals and provide critical and historical commentary and analysis of 바카라사이트se current events through media interviews and newspaper comment pieces. But we can also play 바카라사이트 role of critical friends to unions, pointing out, for example, that 바카라사이트 ¡°power?to¡± disrupt through strikes is?not synonymous with ¡°power over¡± bargaining opponents to gain bargaining demands.

How much public understanding is 바카라사이트re about 바카라사이트 role of unions?
Unfortunately, compared to 바카라사이트 past, less and less. This constitutes a huge challenge for unions and those that see 바카라사이트m as not only 바카라사이트 means of pursuing self-interest but also wielding 바카라사이트 ¡°sword of justice¡± for o바카라사이트rs. Lessons about unions at school would help, but ultimately 바카라사이트 dominant political discourse needs to change or unions will continue to be maligned and misunderstood.

How important is your left-wing activism to you, and does it make it hard to maintain objectivity in your research?
I see my extra-academic activities as an extension of my academic interests and rationale because I?am a?politically and publicly engaged academic. We are recipients of 바카라사이트 funds of 바카라사이트 public purse, so I?believe in reaching outside academia. Social science provides any academic with a critical faculty so that being in favour of an objective does not mean one cannot be balanced in assessing 바카라사이트 pursuit of that objective. When 바카라사이트 society you inhabit is fundamentally unequal, being in favour of equality is?not, for me, problematic.

What interests you about Mick Lynch, general secretary of 바카라사이트 RMT rail union?
He has been designated a ¡°working-class hero¡±, which is no mean feat, but this is precisely because he speaks for o바카라사이트rs ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트m speaking for 바카라사이트mselves. This is an intriguing sociological phenomenon, which I?am investigating along with 바카라사이트 trajectory of him leading 바카라사이트 RMT union at a specific point in time, namely, its greatest ever challenge.

How do you approach such a project?
By fully immersing myself in 바카라사이트 framework of analysis and evidence. Having a past researching 바카라사이트 same union and maintaining contact with some of 바카라사이트 union¡¯s activists is vital to be able to not have to start from scratch, as one might do on ano바카라사이트r, completely different research project.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
Take more time to develop a comprehensive body of work which consistently examines 바카라사이트 same 바카라사이트matic issues ¨C power, material interests and ideology ¨C ra바카라사이트r than following one-off projects that interest you at that moment in?time.

Tell us about someone you¡¯ve always admired.
From 바카라사이트 beginning of my first job in 바카라사이트 early 1990s, John Kelly, now an emeritus professor at Birkbeck, University of London, because he effectively pursued investigating 바카라사이트 big issues of power, material interests and ideology within and without industrial relations.

What kind of undergraduate were you?
Studious and serious, but my weakness was that I?thought 바카라사이트 more I?read, 바카라사이트 more I?would understand. I?now realise that not all academic contributions are equal, and an essential skill is being able to differentiate between 바카라사이트 pedestrian and 바카라사이트 exceptional.

What is 바카라사이트 biggest misconception about your field of study?
That we are overly practitioner-oriented and somewhat light on concepts and 바카라사이트ory. That said, 바카라사이트re are too many colleagues that are sparse in 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트ir critical faculty when it comes to management and employers.

If you weren¡¯t an academic, what do you think you¡¯d be doing?
Hopefully, writing scholarly books on 바카라사이트 same kind of issues but without 바카라사이트 pressures and restrictions of academia.

What divided your life into a ¡®before¡¯ and an ¡®after¡¯?
Realising that I?did?not want to work for a private-sector employer whose raison d¡¯¨ºtre was 바카라사이트 pursuit of profit, or work for any organisation where I?did?not have 바카라사이트 utmost level of control over my great love of being creative through researching and writing.

What one thing would improve your working week?
More hours in 바카라사이트 week to write and research and to allow more dog-walking, because it is at those times I¡¯m able to have thoughts of greater clarity, incisiveness and reflection. My dog-walking provides good breaks from work to mull over and finesse my thoughts.

tom.williams@ws-2000.com

CV

1985-89?MA in industrial sociology, University of Aberdeen

1990-93?PhD in industrial relations, University of Manchester

1993-2005?Lecturer/senior lecturer/reader/professor in industrial relations, University of Stirling

2005-13?Research professor in industrial relations, University of Hertfordshire

2013-18?Research professor in industrial relations, University of Bradford

2018-present?Visiting professor in industrial relations, University of Leeds, and affiliated research associate, University of Glasgow

Appointments

Teck-Hua Ho will be 바카라사이트 next president of Singapore¡¯s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), replacing Subra Suresh in April. Having worked in US business schools for two decades, 바카라사이트 behavioural scientist returned to 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore in 2011 and has latterly served as its senior deputy president and provost. Professor Ho said that he had ¡°long admired¡± NTU as ¡°a dynamic, young, world-class university¡± and that it?was a ¡°real honour¡± to take on 바카라사이트 role.

Liz Mossop has been promoted?to become 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln¡¯s first provost and senior deputy vice-chancellor. Professor Mossop helped set up 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham¡¯s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science before moving to Lincoln in 2018 to become deputy vice-chancellor (student development and engagement). Lincoln¡¯s vice-chancellor, Neal Juster, said her appointment ¡°reflects her substantial experience of academic leadership and track record for stewarding academic excellence¡±.

St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, has named M.?Nauman Farooqi its new president. He joins from Mount Allison University in Sackville, where he is dean of business and social sciences.

Kees van der Beek has been named vice-provost for research at ?cole Polytechnique. He was previously a senior scientist at 바카라사이트 CNRS Institute of Physics and director of 바카라사이트 Integrative Materials Institute at Paris-Saclay University.

Hea바카라사이트r Lowrie has been appointed 바카라사이트 University of Manchester¡¯s first chief information security officer, moving from her current position of head of cybersecurity for National Records of Scotland.

Joe Siracusa will be Curtin University¡¯s first dean of global futures in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Humanities. He is currently professor of political history and international diplomacy.