Networks and social capital in the UK television industry: The weakness of weak ties

• Published in: Human relations (New York) 2007-02, Vol.60 (2), p.371-393
• Main Authors: Antcliff, Valerie, Saundry, Richard, Stuart, Mark
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Competition; Competitive advantage; Employment; Labor market; Labour market; Networks; Organization; Professional relations. Trade unions; Qualitative analysis; Social capital; Social network analysis; Social networks; Sociology; Sociology of work; Sociology of work and sociology of organizations; Studies; Television; Television production industry; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 0018-7267; 1741-282X
• DOI: 10.1177/0018726707075880

Accounts of the shift to post-industrial modes of employment have tended to present an over-simplified view of networks as an assemblage of contacts used to gain individual advantage in the labour market. Creative industries represent a challenge to this as typically they rely on networks to foster collaboration, trust and co-operation. In this article we explore how a variety of networks are used to promote both individual competition and co-operation in an industry where re-regulation has resulted in the break up of bureaucratic organizations and widespread casualization of the labour market. We argue that there is a need to extend the debate on the role of networks in a casualized labour market to examine how individuals organize themselves via the plethora of networks that result from organizational break up.We use qualitative data from a series of interviews with freelance television production workers in the United Kingdom to suggest that workers use networks as a source of competitive advantage and, at the same time, support and co-operation. Overall our research suggests that network activity is more complex, and networks themselves more dynamic, than existing research and theory implies.