[csaa-forum] Usyd GCS Seminar, Friday 1 May: "Working Culture"

[Fiona Allon]

Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney.

³WORKING CULTURE² ‹ Melissa Gregg, Brigid van Wanrooy and Sarah Squire.

On May Day this year, the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the
University of Sydney hosts a seminar dedicated to discussing working
conditions in contemporary Australia. It showcases new research and policy
directions responsive to today's precarious workplace landscape. Three
speakers will offer findings from current studies and campaigns that
highlight the benefits that gender and cultural studies can bring to
existing approaches to the study of work and the landscape of labor
activism. 

WHEN: Friday, 1 May, 2pm
WHERE: Western Tower Boardroom (J4.03), Quadrangle (A14), University of
Sydney
The seminar will followed by drinks at Manning Bar. All very welcome!

ABSTRACT:  In the May Day Manifesto (1968), British cultural studies pioneer
Raymond Williams was among a number of New Left activists to write: ³We
believe that in work, centrally, the quality of our society is decided and
will go on being decided.² Since then, cultural studies has maintained a
fluctuating interest in work, but in recent years, changes in the economy
and a decline in the employment conditions affecting a range of jobs have
culminated in what Andrew Ross has described as a "turn to labour". In
Australia, the Federal Labor government was elected at least partly on the
basis that it would defend the rights of so-called working families against
the uncertainties of the Liberal Party's Work Choices legislation. And yet,
the Prime Minister has consistently faced questions about his own
self-destructive work ethic amid high rates of staff turnover within party
ranks. Meanwhile, as the global economic downturn takes hold, plans for a
national policy on parental leave appear to be at risk, and mass
redundancies populate the headlines.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Melissa Gregg, "Function creep: Anticipatory affect in the information
workplace²
Melissa Gregg is an Australian Postdoctoral Discovery Fellow in the
Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Her
previous books are Cultural Studies' Affective Voices (Palgrave, 2006), and
the co-edited collection, The Affect Theory Reader (forthcoming Duke UP).
With over 20 peer-reviewed publications, Melissa has been at the forefront
of research into technology's impact on professional and personal life. In
November 2009, she is organising a major national conference on academic
labour, ³The State of the Industry², with colleagues in the ARC Cultural
Research Network.

Brigid Van Wanroy, "Couple strategies: Men and women¹s approach to working
hours over the life course"
Brigid Van Wanroy is a Leading Research Analyst at the Workplace Research
Centre at The University of Sydney. She currently holds an ARC Postdoctoral
Fellowship and is the lead researcher for the "Australia at Work" study.
This project is tracking 8,000 workers over five years to examine changes in
working life. Brigid obtained her doctorate from the Australian National
University, researching Australian working time preferences. She has
contributed to various public and policy debates on long working hours in
Australia. Brigid has been employed as a social researcher in the private
sector and by the Federal Government.

Sarah Squire, "Work and family in Australia - a policy overview"
Sarah Squire works at the NSW Office for Women¹s Policy in the Department of
Premier and Cabinet, where she is currently Acting Manager of the Women¹s
Policy Development Unit. Prior to this, Sarah worked for four years in a
senior policy and research role in the Sex and Age Discrimination Unit at
the Australian Human Rights Commission. While at the Commission, Sarah
undertook extensive work in the area of paid maternity leave, and work and
family policy, and she was the principal author of the Commission¹s 2007
paper It¹s About Time: Women, men, work and family. Previous roles include
work as a Policy Adviser at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
in Canberra. Sarah holds a PhD in Women¹s Studies from La Trobe University.

RSVP/Apologies to Fiona Allon (fiona.allon at usyd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the seminar series or how to find the venue,
please feel free to contact me.
--
Dr Fiona Allon
Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry
The University of Sydney, NSW 2006
AUSTRALIA

Office: J6.09, Main Quadrangle (A14)
Tel: + 61 2 9351 6815
Fax: + 61 2 9351 3918
Mobile: 0409 901 039
Email: fiona.allon at usyd.edu.au


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