The British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA)

BUIRA Conference 2016
Call for abstracts now open - until 8 January 2016


The aim of the BUIRA 2016 conference (29 June to 1 July) will be to 
discuss the prospects and opportunities for employment relations as we 
approach 2020.


The year 2020 has been used by policy makers, academics and commentators 
on work and employment relations as a basis for reflection, measurement 
and assessment. At EU level, 2020 is the point at which many of the 
neo-liberal informed agenda around change and growth are expected to 
reach fruition.

For many, 2020 will be seen as a point at which an assessment of the 
consequences and permanent legacies of austerity regimes and 
restructuring can reasonably take place. In the UK, 2020 will see the 
next general election, with the first three months of the current 
Conservative government having already had a profound impact on the 
regulation of employment, work and welfare.


For those who have long speculated about the changing nature of work, 
employment and employment relations, 2020 is also a key moment, in which 
long predicted changes and continuities in the nature of work might be 
examined and reassessed.

What are the prospects for collective bargaining and organising towards 
2020? How can labour movements respond to the growing fragmentation of 
work, regulatory challenges and processes of restructuring? Do green 
agendas offer new opportunities, or threats to organised labour? Are we 
seeing a new social settlement between labour, employers and the state, 
and how is this being manifested through employment law and regulation? 
In what ways is work being reconfigured, and what are the implications 
for workers of different races, classes, genders and ages?   What are 
the experiences of work for those in the margins of the economy, for 
those in low paid jobs, for migrants, and for those in the growing 
shadow and informal economy?



Papers addressing the issues below will be particularly welcomed:



Perspectives on employment relations: researching employment relations; 
methods in employment relations; inside the world of work; quantitative 
and qualitative research in employment relations 40 years after Donovan.



New visions for employment relations towards 2020 and beyond: protest 
and resistance in work; new and old actors in the employment 
relationship; movements of labour; labour organising.



Bargaining and the bargaining agenda towards 2020: the prospects for and 
challenges of bargaining; bargaining for the green economy; bargaining 
for restructuring and skills; new bargaining agendas and actors



A new social settlement? Employment law and regulation towards 2020: 
employment systems and employment relations; changing landscapes of 
social protection and labour rights; challenges to the EU social model



The (changing?) experience of work and welfare: poverty and work: 
contingent and non-standard forms of employment; work in the shadow and 
hidden economy; race, class, gender and age divisions in work and 
welfare; work, unemployment, inactivity and welfare.



Equality and diversity towards 2020: equality and diversity under 
austerity; deregulation and equality; equality, diversity and labour 
organising



Innovation in presentations

For 2016, we are looking at innovative ways of organising sessions at 
the conference. Alongside the usual 20 minute presentation of papers in 
a standard session, and plenaries, we will be looking to organise other 
sessions involving more innovative methods of delivery to facilitate 
wider discussion and debate. These will include:

     Themed discussion sessions:  here shorter summaries of 4-5 papers 
will be presented for five minutes each, followed by a more interactive, 
in depth audience-involved discussion.
     Discussant and response sessions in which 2 or 3 papers will be 
presented, followed by a structured response from a number of 
discussants, followed by a general discussion.
     'One-day symposium format where there are a number of papers on a 
particular theme.
     Posters: as well as papers, we welcome submissions of abstracts for 
posters.
     Multi-media sessions: presentations using different forms of media 
(film, music, etc).



If you wish to propose a discussant/response session, with up to three 
papers, or a themed discussion session of 4-5 papers, you may 
co-ordinate this with other potential presenters prior to submitting a 
proposal. The conference organising team may also organise papers into 
discussant/response sessions, themed discussion and symposium sessions 
following the submission of all abstracts.

To submit an abstract for this year's conference go to http://www.buira.net