A Symposium - Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Many thanks to our sponsors:

Inter-university Centre for Research on Globalization and Work (CRIMT)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada,

Office of the Vice-President Academic Saint Mary's University,

Office of the Dean Sobey School of Business Saint Mary's University,

PhD Program Sobey School of Business Saint Mary's University,

Visiting Speakers Program Saint Mary's University

Special public lecture by Gina Neff, Saturday, 30 October, 12:45 pm - Click here

This international symposium draws together academics, policy makers, unions, associations of professionals and artists, employers, and workers in the global labour market to discuss the nature of the challenges they face and the possible routes to new institutions and relationships in the rapidly changing knowledge economy. 

The main theme of the symposium is:

What are the challenges for all stakeholders in the emerging world of knowledge work?

as well as the following conference subthemes: 

Representation

Who are the stakeholders in the knowledge economy?  How have their roles been redefined?  What new players and institutional forms are emerging?  What kinds of collective organizations work best?  What is the state of citizenship at work in contemporary workplaces?  How is the struggle to organize both work and workers being redefined in a knowledge economy?

Public Policy & Law

How can existing regulatory frameworks cope with the knowledge economy?  Does the regulation of existing institutions adequately serve the needs of workers and employers/deployers of labour in the knowledge economy?

Working conditions, careers, and the labour process

How are working conditions and the labour process shaped by the identities, norms and expectations of knowledge workers and the knowledge economy?  How is a career defined and managed when work is intangible, creative, remote, project-based, and focused on end products rather than long-term relationships?  What is the impact of risk and how is it managed in portfolio careers?

Immaterial labour and ownership of intellectual property

What impact does the blurring of the production/consumption boundary have on work control and workplace relations?  Who owns the products and services produced?  How is value created and distributed?

Managing knowledge workers

What is changing for employee loyalty, innovation, and motivation?  Today’s (project) managers cope with greater employee autonomy and creativity across more and more specialized technical fields of knowledge.  How do you manage knowledge workers, or creative workers, or semi-autonomous professionals collaborating with peers, owners, and managers?  Where are managers’ sources of power and legitimacy? 

Training, education and issues of knowledge management

In networked employment, whose responsibility is training and development?  Who owns the creative power in a knowledge organization?  Where does investment in human capital fit with worker autonomy, global citizenship, and product value? What are the implications for knowledge transfer and accumulation when workers can call on the collective knowledge beyond their organization to solve problems?