Barry Wilkinson died on 2 February 2019, age 63, after a long illness. Barry was first cited by scholars in industrial sociology and related fields for his The Shopfloor Politics of New Technology, published in 1983 and based on his PhD thesis at Aston University. A contract at the National University of Singapore was not renewed in 1986 after Barry and I co-authored an analysis of ‘Human and Industrial Relations in Singapore’ that offended the authorities there, who labelled us ‘wild’ and ‘bold’, but he immediately began research on the Japanisation of British industry and elsewhere at the Cardiff Business School, where he was offered a professorship. After a prolific publication record on industrialisation in Asia, Barry subsequently moved to the Universities of Bath and then Exeter, where illness overtook him and ended his academic career.

Barry was a dedicated and hard-working scholar who shared his enthusiasm and research with many colleagues.