‘Make do and mend’ after redundancy at Anglesey Aluminium: critiquing human capital approaches to unemployment

an article by Tony Dobbins, Alexandra Plows and Huw Lloyd-Williams (Bangor University, UK) published in Work, Employment & Society Volume 28 Number 4 (August 2014)

Abstract

This article tracks workers’ responses to redundancy and impact on the local labour market and regional unemployment policy after the closure of a large employer, Anglesey Aluminium (AA), on Anglesey in North Wales. It questions human capital theory (HCT) and its influence on sustaining neo-liberal policy orthodoxy – focused on supplying skilled and employable workers in isolation from other necessary ingredients in the policy recipe. It is concluded that HCT and associated skills policy orthodoxy are problematic because supply of particular skills did not create demand from employers.

Ex-AA workers faced a paradox of being highly skilled but underemployed. Some workers re-trained but there were insufficient (quality) job opportunities.

In picking up the pieces after redundancy many workers found themselves part of a labour ‘precariat’ with little choice but to ‘make do and mend’.

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An Evaluation of the Layering and Legacy of Area-based Regeneration Initiatives in England: The Case of Wolverhampton

an article by Steven Henderson (School of Applied Sciences, University of Wolverhampton) published in Urban Studies Volume 49 Number 6 (May 2012)

Abstract

In England, there have been 40 years of area-based initiatives (ABIs) involving strategic national government intervention in local authority areas with significant regeneration needs. Whilst they have been examined individually, less consideration has been given to the layering and legacy of ABIs.

Uncertainties include whether local authorities have institutionalised new ways of operating or whether layering complexities have acted as significant barriers.

Focusing on Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, this paper examines recent ABI experiences and discusses why support for City Challenge (1992–98) appeared stronger than the more recent New Deal for Communities programme (2001–11).

Important ABI legacies include greater diversity of neighbourhood structures, anxiety towards ABIs where property markets are depressed and the realisation that, whilst partnership working has intensified, traditional exclusionary aspects remain.

Achieving the most effective governance structures to facilitate urban regeneration remains an on-going challenge, including within emerging Coalition government policy frameworks.

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Britain's regional divide

an article by Henry G Overman in CentrePiece – The Magazine for Economic Performance Number 277 (Winter 2008/9)

Henry Overman considers the regional distribution of prosperity and the potential policy responses.

Full article (PDF 2pp)

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