Abstract
This paper adds to the discussion of how technological change occurred in London’s commercial printing businesses between 1980–1992 (‘Commercial’ being a term implying that firms were neither private presses, nor newspaper producers.). It shows how a decentralised trade restructured and underwent a major industrial shift in order to survive a technologically and politically turbulent decade. It argues firstly that print production de-industrialised and emerged as a ‘service’, as the result of social networks within the industry breaking down and reorganising and secondly that the impact of digital technologies on practices in the workplace was a slow and complex process. In doing so, it complements familiar narratives of newspaper production, which focus upon a more ‘sudden’ transformation within a centralised trade.
Changes in training, tracked with oral history work, provides a focus for understanding. Object-based and archival document research is also used, including an examination of annual reports (a chief undertaking by London printers), as well as trade literature. Together, such sources give a view from a variety of responses to industrial transformation. They also demonstrate how a multi-disciplinary approach that combines social networks and material culture can generate alternative insights into both industrial transformation and also into researching the digital as a political occurrence (This paper is a part of a larger research project entitled ‘Open Shop: a Reassessment of London’s Printing Trades, 1980–1992’.).
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Notes
- 1.
As general printing was characterised by subcontracting, ‘print trades’ is descriptive of the interdependence of the specialist trades involved.
- 2.
Economic historians have shown little recognition of the industry beyond quantitative analysis and print workers and social historians have focused upon specialist activity, particularly newspaper production.
- 3.
The established literature involving the dispute is driven by left-wing politics. The dispute is often used to typify the immoralities of ‘Thatcherism’, particularly the dismantling of Union power and the unfair dismissal of workers.
- 4.
Between 1980–1992, London held by far the highest number of printing trades in the UK.
- 5.
Between 1969–1996, Benn Publications issued an annual PTD. This publication was viewed by the Printing Industries Research Association (PIRA) as, ‘the leading reference book for the industry’. The PTD claimed the ability to ‘put print buyers and producers together’, yet it was also used by PIRA, manufacturers, print colleges and print employees.
- 6.
In 1980, there were four print Unions: The National Graphical Association: London Branch (NGA), the compositors’ Union; The Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), the clerical workers’ Union; The Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers (SLADE) the Union for repro workers; and the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA), the machine minders’ Union.
- 7.
Otherwise known as a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ display.
- 8.
Histories of printing technology, including Wallis’s A Concise Chronology of Typesetting Developments, chronologically detail the dates of manufacture of typesetting technologies. Although such histories are a helpful way to examine the technologies available to firms, they are inadequate for assessing technological change. Dates are commonly based on the dates of manufacture. However, we need to address use in the workplace in order to appreciate when technology made an impact.
References
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See Printing Trades Directory. Benn Publications Limited, Kent (1989; 1993)
See British Printing Industries Federation: Print 21: Coming of Age? A study into the competitiveness of the UK printing Industry. Department for Trade and Industry, London, p. 56: Table 4 also see. p. 24: ‘Output’ (2001)
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Heslop, A. (2021). Technological Change in London’s Commercial Printing Trades, 1980–1992. In: Martins, N., Brandão, D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication . Digicom 2020. Springer Series in Design and Innovation , vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61671-7_42
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