Professor George Wright is a co-investigator on a just-secured three-year Australian Research Council funded "Discovery" project worth 485,000 Australian Dollars (about £285,000). The project is led by Peter Fairbrother of RMIT University in Melbourne, where George is also an Honorary Professor. The project title is: Unions and Regional Industrial Regeneration; Engaging Unions, Business and the State.
This three year research project will develop theory on unions as developmental actors in relation to regional and industrial adjustment through an applied study of North West Tasmania. The project investigates the necessary conditions for unions to engage as developmental actors in industrial regeneration and to influence the types of industries and jobs that emerge in regenerating regions. It will engage with theories of trade unions and lay the foundation for engaging with theories of union renewal. The research approach comprises an adapted extended case study procedure and applies the new scenario methods developed by George Wright and George Cairns (an ex member of staff at SBS) to aid decision making and policy development.
Professor Wright said, "The project will open up new avenues for understanding the processes of industrial regeneration and will contribute to debates about desirable forms of work and employment in regenerating regions. I look forward to my visits to Australia."