Local Perspectives on Globalisation and Learning: A case study of the printing and packaging industry in south-west England

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of technological change and globalising tendencies on the printing industry. These processes of change have important implications for training. The paper uses available case-study evidence on the print industry in the south-west of England, organised mainly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It takes as its starting point a limited range of the extensive literature on globalisation, and the literature that relates issues of lifelong learning to globalisation. The period since 1997 has seen an increasingly interventionist approach by the UK government to education and training. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on regional policy, with substantial devolution of power to Wales and Scotland, and the setting up of the Regional Development Agencies in England. Within the south-west England print industry, the initiative to rebuild the training infrastructure, especially for SMEs, has been taken by the Graphical Paper and Media Union. It has used money provided by government primarily through the Trade Union Learning Fund to set up training courses in new print technologies for its members and to begin to create a network of learning representatives to encourage and support members to take up these new opportunities. The paper refers to both quantitative and qualitative data on this work, and reflects on its economic, social, and cultural situatedness.