The Intellectual and Institutional Development of BUIRA: A 60 Years Retrospective

The foundation of BUIRA’s predecessor in 1950 signified an important turn in the academic life of Great Britain, as it set the proper bases for the development of the field of Industrial Relations in the country.

Although the study of industrial relations- related matters occupied the British literature since the 19th century, it was the establishment of BUIRA that gave the impetus for the further institutionalisation of the field.

However, BUIRA was not always perceived, either by its members or by the rest of the society, as a professional association actively representing a community of “Industrial Relations” scholars; the passage of BUIRA from an informal annual meeting, or “gentlemen’s club”, to a professional association occurred gradually.

In parallel to the evolution of BUIRA’s identity, its role also changed, from an association interested primarily in the promotion of its members’ interests to an association actively interfering in the public debate concerning the future of the field of Industrial Relations in Britain.

Operating, nowadays, in a rather hostile environment for the study of industrial relations, BUIRA seems to resist the degenerating trends in British academia, and to continue to be valued as an important institution for British Industrial Relations.

Dr. Horen Voskeritsian (April 2010)

Source:

Voskeritsian, H. (2010) The Intellectual and Institutional Development of BUIRA: a 60 Years Retrospective. BUIRA

The article is available in full here.

BUIRA Presidents and Officers 1950-2010

YearPresidentOfficersHost Institution
1950-1953J.H. RichardsonJ.D.M. Bell; K.J.W. AlexanderUniversity of Leeds
1953-1956H.S. KirkaldyJ.D.M. Bell; D.J. Robertson; H.R. KahnUniversity of Cambridge
1956-1959E.H. Phelps-BrownD.J. Robertson; H.R. Kahn; N.S. RossLondon School of Economics
1959-1962A.D. FlandersN.S. Ross; J.P. DavisonUniversity of Oxford
1962-1965D.J. RobertsonJ.P. Davison; G.L. ReidUniversity of Glasgow
1965-1968B.C. RobertsR.F. Banks; R.J. LoveridgeLondon School of Economics
1968-1971H.A. TurnerL.J. HandyUniversity of Cambridge
1971-1974H.A. CleggG.S. BainUniversity of Warwick
1974-1977W.E.J. McCarthyJ.W. DurcanUniversity of Oxford
1977-1980L.C. HunterA.W.J. ThomsonUniversity of Glasgow
1980-1983Dorothy WedderburnPaul WillmanImperial College, London
1983-1986J.F.B. GoodmanJ.R.K. BerridgeUniversity of Manchester
1986-1989William BrownColin GillUniversity of Cambridge
1989-1992John GennardC.J. LockyerUniversity of Strathclyde
1992-1995Christine EdwardsEdmund HeeryKingston University
1995-1998John PurcellNicholas KinnieUniversity of Oxford
1998-2001Linda DickensStephen Bach; Caroline LloydUniversity of Warwick
2001-2004Roger SeifertCarole Thornley; Mike Ironside; Paul Smith; Steve FrenchKeele University
2004-2007Stephanie TailbyHazel Conley; Andy Danford; Martin UpchurchUniversity of the West of England
2007-2010Rosemary LucasPaul Brook; Hamish Mathieson; Carol AtkinsonManchester Metropolitan University
2010-2013Paul StewartKirsty Newsome; Ian Cunningham; Kay GilbertUniversity of Strathclyde
2013-2016Mark StuartJane Holgate; Christopher Forde; Ian Greenwood; Robert MacKenzieUniversity of Leeds
2016-2019Jo McBrideAna Lopes; Stewart Johnstone; Michael Brookes; Stephen ProcterNewcastle University
2019-2022Tony DobbinsAndy Hodder; Alex Wood; Genevieve Coderre-LaPalme; David Bailey; Paul LewisUniversity of Birmingham
2022-2023Peter TurnbullTonia Novitz; Alex Wood; Jennifer Johns; Huw Thomas; Giorgos Gouzoulis; Harry Pitts; Manoj Dias-Abey; Kavya BharadkarUniversity of Bristol