Alternate Routes Conference & Special Issue
Organizers: Carlo Fanelli, York University; Stephanie Luce, City University of New York;
Marco Marrone, University of Bologna; Federico Chicchi, University of Bologna
When: Monday June 11th to Wednesday June 13th, 2018
Where: University of Bologna, Italy
Although neoliberals have long accepted that constraints on democracy may be necessary to defend capitalist markets, the march toward total privatization and commodification of social relations has
intensified in the decade of austerity following the 2008 Great Recession. This includes tax shifting for
competitiveness, reduction of welfare state provisions, workplace concessions and widespread monetization of public assets. A growing body of literature has also documented the rise of nonstandard and precarious work – that is, forms of employment with limited social benefits and statutory entitlements, low wages, uncertainty of job tenure, and high risks of ill health. The deterioration in the quality and character of work has also been noted in the increasing flexibilization of workers, lack of control over its terms and conditions, limited access to career ladders, deunionization, and predominance of temporary, contractual, and part-time labour. While the anti-democratic and anti-worker thread coursing through neoliberal theory and practice is not new, its ever evolving manifestations merit further scrutiny.
Alternate Routes invites panel and paper proposals for its upcoming annual conference. To encourage broad intellectual engagement and debate, we are seeking proposals on a wide range of topics relating to these trends, including but not limited to:
- The Welfare State: Past, Present, Future
- Income Transfers and Redistributive Labour Market Policies
- Labour Market Restructuring, Participation and Un(der)employment
- Precarious Work and Labour Exploitation
- Unpaid and Informal Labour
- The Gig Economy and Platform Capitalism
- Interactive and Caring Work, Household and Emotional Labour
- Mobile Work and Mobile Workers
- Unions, Equity and Affirmative Action
- Workplace Democracy and Labour Rights
- Movements Against Austerity: New forms of Organization and Political Resistance
To submit your proposal, please visit www.alternateroutes.ca and click on CONFERENCES. Submissions must be received no later than December 31st, 2017. A selection of papers will be considered as part of a special issue publication of Alternate Routes.
Conference Registration Fees:
Permanent/Full-time Faculty $200€; Contract Faculty and Graduate Students: $150€.
