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Stream 1: Lean in Ideology and in Practice
In the last years, we have seen a rapid diffusion of Japanese production systems and Lean systems in the manufacturing sector, healthcare and civil services, etc. However, there are different interpretations and attitudes to these systems, and their claimed effects on the work system, in Western societies, for instance in Britain and in Scandinavia. In this stream we raise questions such as: What make Lean mean? Does Lean always have to be mean?
Organisers: Per Sederblad (per.sederblad@mah.se), Lena Abrahamsson, Mikael Brännmark, Andy Danford
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Stream 2: Putting Labour in its Place: Global Value Chains and Labour Process Analysis
We are seeking abstracts from researchers who are striving to combine 'Global Value Chain' (GVC) or 'Global Production Network' (GPN) approaches with labour process analysis. Labour either as value creator or as agency (collective or otherwise) remains frustratingly absent from GCC/GVC approaches. Theoretical papers exploring the problematic of integrating GVC/GPN and labour process analysis are thus welcome, as are abstracts from those reporting empirical findings, albeit informed by these conceptual concerns. Although studies at the transnational scale are self-evidently important, those focused on the intra-national, regional or local scales are also encouraged. We welcome contributions from scholars working in diverse disciplines and fields of study, including human and economic geography, development studies, comparative political economy, gender studies, as well as more established labour process territory of the sociology of work and industrial/employment relations. The aim is to encourage a critical engagement between those who acknowledge the salience of core labour theory and others for whom participation at the ILPC may be a new experience
Organisers: Phil Taylor (philip.taylor@strath.ac.uk), Kirsty Newsome, Al Rainnie
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Stream 3: Work or Nature? Climate Change, Green jobs, the Labour Process and Labour Movement Responses
What effects will climate change have on the labour process in terms of e.g. skills and needs for reskilling? What effects do new, so-called green, technologies have on workers’ forms of cooperation, knowledge and hierarchical relations at the workplace? There is evidence that green jobs can be as exploitative and unhealthy as “dirty” jobs. How can green jobs also become decent jobs? We need research analysing the ways in which workers and unions can act rather than just react; become agents of change that transform existing production processes into environmentally sustainable and socially sustainable production that offer decent working conditions.
Organisers: Nora Räthzel (Nora.Rathzel@soc.umu.se), David Uzzell
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Stream 4: The Comparative Political Economy of Work and Employment Relations
Comparative political economy focuses on how the functioning of national economies may be explained by distinct institutional frameworks, historical trajectories, etc. However, there is a tendency to focus on analyzing comparative macro-level economic and national models, neglecting the diversity of labour processes, work arrangements and employment relations. A methodological nationalism further endures despite increasing internationalization. National institutions do remain important, but are transformed by e.g. the globalization of finance, with implications for the comparative political economy of work and employment relations. We therefore seek abstracts on how micro-level labour process/ workplace and meso-level employment relations analysis contribute to understanding comparative political economy.
Organisers: Marco Hauptmeier (hauptmeierm@cardiff.ac.uk), Matt Vidal
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