Open shop: technological change in London’s printing industry, 1980–1992

Heslop, A (2021) 'Open shop: technological change in London’s printing industry, 1980–1992.' In: Martins, N, Brandão, D and Moreira da Silva, F, eds. Perspectives on design and digital communication II. Springer, Cham, pp. 385-407. ISBN 9783030758660

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Abstract

This chapter adds to the discussion of how technological transformation occurred in London’s printing businesses between 1980–1992. By plotting the shift in power between the print Unions and the print consumer, it argues that the impact of digital technologies on practices in the workplace was a slow and complex process. As we shall see, the 1980s and 1990s were a time of political upheaval that drove complications with technological use. Analysing what Thomas Misa has called ‘sociotechnical change’ enables us to examine the social and technological entanglements that drive industrial transformation. This chapter explores what technological change looked like from the perspective of multiple actors. Questioning training through teaching apprenticeships and on-the-spot training within the workplace allows for this. We shall see how training print workers in digital technologies took time, money and required different skills that were not easily embedded. We shall also observe that by changing who and what was being taught, industrial transformation was perpetuated. Oral history work provides a focus for understanding as does archival document research, including an examination of trade literature and Union minutes. Together, such sources give a view from a variety of responses to industrial transformation.

Item Type:	Book Chapter or Section
UN SDGs:	Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Keywords:	print unions, industrial transformation, technical knowledge, information economy, sociotechnical change
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain N Fine Arts > NE Print media T Technology > TS Manufactures T Technology > TT Handicrafts Arts and crafts
Divisions:	Bath School of Design
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2025 16:04
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2025 16:04
URN:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17299

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