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<TITLE>Usyd GCS Seminar, Friday 1 May: "Working Culture"</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney.<BR>
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“WORKING CULTURE” — Melissa Gregg, Brigid van Wanrooy and Sarah Squire.<BR>
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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. <BR>
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WHEN: Friday, 1 May, 2pm<BR>
WHERE: Western Tower Boardroom (J4.03), Quadrangle (A14), University of Sydney<BR>
The seminar will followed by drinks at Manning Bar. All very welcome!<BR>
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ABSTRACT: In the <I>May Day Manifesto</I> (1968), British cultural studies pioneer Raymond Williams was among a number of New Left activists to write: “We believe that in work, centrally, the quality of our society is decided and will go on being decided.” 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.<BR>
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:<BR>
Melissa Gregg, "Function creep: Anticipatory affect in the information workplace”<BR>
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, “The State of the Industry”, with colleagues in the ARC Cultural Research Network.<BR>
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Brigid Van Wanroy, "Couple strategies: Men and women’s approach to working hours over the life course"<BR>
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. <BR>
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Sarah Squire, "Work and family in Australia - a policy overview" <BR>
Sarah Squire works at the NSW Office for Women’s Policy in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, where she is currently Acting Manager of the Women’s 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 Commission’s 2007 paper <I>It’s About Time: Women, men, work and family</I>. Previous roles include work as a Policy Adviser at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra. Sarah holds a PhD in Women’s Studies from La Trobe University.<BR>
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RSVP/Apologies to Fiona Allon (<a href="fiona.allon@usyd.edu.au">fiona.allon@usyd.edu.au</a>).<BR>
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If you have any questions about the seminar series or how to find the venue, please feel free to contact me.<BR>
--<BR>
Dr Fiona Allon<BR>
Department of Gender and Cultural Studies<BR>
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry<BR>
The University of Sydney, NSW 2006<BR>
AUSTRALIA<BR>
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Office: J6.09, Main Quadrangle (A14)<BR>
Tel: + 61 2 9351 6815<BR>
Fax: + 61 2 9351 3918<BR>
Mobile: 0409 901 039<BR>
Email: <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="fiona.allon@usyd.edu.au">fiona.allon@usyd.edu.au</a></U></FONT> <BR>
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