New Voices in Labour Studies: Looking back/moving forward: Challenges for labour organizing in an era of global austerity and economic crisis
March 2-3, 2012
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montréal, Québec
Workers at home and around the world are being saddled with the burden of saving capitalism in the context of the current global economic crisis through sweeping austerity measures and further attacks on trade unions and working people. More and more people are forced to contend with precarious working conditions, not least migrant workers and new immigrants who face multiple forms of economic, political and social exclusion in labour-receiving states such as Canada.
But from within their workplaces, trade unions, communities and as part of larger social movements, workers are fighting back. We invite paper proposals that critically theorize the politics of the current challenges for labour organizing, trade unionism and other forms of collective action undertaken to fight for workplace justice and broader forms of social change. We also invite paper proposals that place these processes in historical perspective, using history to shed light on contemporary problems.
Potential topics might include:
• The organization of migrant workers
• Workers in the labour movement
• Job insecurity and its impact on trade unionism
• The challenges of neoliberal globalization for workers and their organizations
• Resistance to austerity policies
• The challenges of organizing in the service sector
• Threats to the traditional strongholds of organized labour (public sector, manufacturing)
• Alliances between the labour movement and other social movements
• Rebuilding the struggle against capital
This list is by no means exhaustive and all proposals which fit within the overall theme of the conference are encouraged.
The conference is designed to provide a critical interdisciplinary venue for “new voices in labour studies”. Preference will be given to senior Ph.D. students and scholars who completed their Ph.D. in the last six years, as well as labour organizers and researchers from outside of the academy. Co-authored papers by academic researchers and labour activists are encouraged. Current and recent graduates will have the opportunity to meet emerging voices in the field and interact with more senior scholars as well as labour organizers and union activists.
The conference will take place at L'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montréal on March 2-3, 2012. Presentations can be made in French or English. The two-day event will include thematic panels, and an informal evening social event to be held at Montreal’s Immigrant Workers Centre.
Proposal Submission: November 30, 2011
• Title of paper and a 100-150 word outline of the paper to be presented
• List of degrees, including discipline and starting with the most recent (maximum four lines)
• List of positions, starting with the most recent (maximum ten lines)
• Publications, starting with the most recent (maximum ten lines)
Conference website:
(EN): newvoicesinlabour.mcgill.ca
(FR): travailetsyndicalisme.mcgill.ca
Please send your proposal and supporting information to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>.
Submitters will be notified on the status of their proposal by mid-January 2012.
For more information, please contact:
Thomas Collombat ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>)
or
Aziz Choudry ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>)
Conference Organizers:
Aziz Choudry (McGill), Thomas Collombat (UQAM), Léa L. Fontaine (UQAM), Steve Jordan (McGill), Jean-François Mayer (Concordia), Yanick Noiseux (Université de Montréal), Eric Shragge (Concordia), Sid Ahmed Soussi (UQAM).