Some Social and Spatial Aspects of Services

Abstract

Five related issues involved in the analysis of services are discussed. First, it is shown that it is incorrect to suggest that there is a single route to the contemporary economy with high employment in the service sector. The Fisher–Clark thesis is discussed and criticised. In the specific case of the United Kingdom it is shown that service industries were of considerable importance even during the supposed heyday of Victorian manufacturing industry. This is shown by analysing certain regional indicators. It is further suggested that the crucial role of especially financial services cannot be understood separately from the broader Makler or middleman economy which in part predated the extensive growth of manufacturing industry. Second, some of the recent arguments of Gershuny and Miles are analysed. It is shown that their formulations are insufficiently social, both in the sense of ignoring changes in the social relations underpinning capitalist production both of manufacturing and of service industries, and of neglecting the impact of ‘social struggles' on the forms and levels of service employment. Third, a number of criteria are discussed by which different service industries can be separated off from each other. The criteria considered are ownership, market, product, degree of ‘commodification’, function, and character of the exchange. A classification based on elements of each of these is proposed in order to deal with UK data sources. Fourth, analysis is developed of eleven different forms of service sector restructuring. Some consideration is paid to the problems of explaining which of these will be found in particular sectors. Particular attention is devoted to considering the degree of importance of the ‘labour’ factor. Last, some of the processes affecting the ‘private consumer services' concerned with tourism are analysed. In particular, attention is devoted to aspects of the physical and social setting within which the service delivery takes place. An attempt is made to demonstrate which particular forms of service sector restructuring will be found in those tourist services in British coastal resorts. The exceptionally complex nature of the forces affecting employment levels in such places is shown in some detail.