A new book co-edited by 91ÑÇÉ« Professors Norene Pupo and Mark Thomas will receive its official launch Thursday, March 25 at a special reception from 3 to 5pm in 626 91ÑÇÉ« Research Tower.

is a collection of original essays investigating the social, political and economic transformations associated with the emergence of the so-called new economy, and their impact on the organization of work within Canada.

The essays discuss the ways in which new management strategies, new communication technologies and efforts to revitalize the labour movement have transformed the Canadian workplace. Focusing on changes in work organization, individuals’ expectations regarding work and the institutional support provided for workers and their families, the text constructs a critical analysis of the "new economy" in order to identify both the potential for quality work experiences and the ways in which the organization of work remains a profound social problem.

Based on years of participatory research, sector-specific studies, and quantitative and qualitative data collection, the work accounts for the ways in which the contemporary workplace has changed, but also the extent to which older forms of work organization still remain.

The collection begins with an overview of the key social and economic transformations that define the new economy. It then illustrates these transformations through examples, including essays on call centre service work and migrant workers. It also addresses unions and their responses to the restructuring of work, as well as other forms of resistance.

Pupo is the director of the Centre for Research on Work & Society at 91ÑÇÉ« and a sociology professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). She is the co-author of .

Thomas is also a professor of sociology in LA& PS at 91ÑÇÉ«. He is the author of .

The event will include a panel of speakers discussing some of the book's themes. Participating on the panel are: 91ÑÇÉ« political science Professor Greg Albo; 91ÑÇÉ« geography Professor Steve Tufts; Ryerson sociology Professor Andie Noack; 91ÑÇÉ« social science and women’s studies Professor Linda Briskin; Naveen Mehta, director of human rights, equity & diversity for the United Food and Commercial Workers; Angelo DiCaro, national communications representative for the Canadian Auto Workers union; Ryerson sociology Professor Alan Sears; and Jorge Garcia-Orgales, a researcher with the United Steelworkers Canadian office.

For more information about the launch, contact Robin Smith, administrator at the Centre for Research on Work & Society, at 416-736-5612.

The launch of Interrogating the New Economy: Restructuring Work in the 21st Century is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto Press and the following 91ÑÇÉ« programs and units: the Centre for Research on Work & Society, the Department of Sociology, the Graduate Program in Sociology, Graduate Program in Social & Political Thought, Graduate Program in Women’s Studies, the Labour Studies Program, Gender & Work Database, Centre for Feminist Research and the 91ÑÇÉ« Staff Association.

Republished with files courtesy of YFile – 91ÑÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91ÑÇÉ« political science Professor , , explores the precarious margins of contemporary labour markets in her new book, Managing the Margins: Gender, Citizenship, and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment, being launched tomorrow.

The book looks at how over the last few decades there has been much discussion of a shift from full-time permanent jobs to higher levels of part-time and temporary employment and self-employment, and the result that despite such attention, regulatory approaches have not adapted accordingly. Instead, in the absence of genuine alternatives, old regulatory models are applied to new labour market realities, leaving the most precarious forms of employment intact.

The book places this disjuncture in historical context and focuses on its implications for workers most likely to be at the margins, particularly women and migrants, using illustrations from Australia, the United States and Canada, as well as member states of the European Union.

provides a rigorous analysis of national and international regulatory approaches, drawing on original and extensive qualitative and quantitative material. It analyzes the historical and contemporary interplay of employment norms, gender relations and citizenship boundaries.

Vosko is also the author of : The Gendered Rise of a Precarious Employment Relationship (University of Toronto Press, 2000), editor of : Understanding Labour Market Insecurity in Canada (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006), and co-author of : Law, Policy, and Unions (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005).

She is currently overseeing the Comparative Perspectives Database, a multi-year collaborative international research project on comparative perspectives on precarious employment linked to the project.

The launch for Managing the Margins (Oxford University Press, 2010) will take place Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30pm at The Annex Live, 296 Brunswick Ave. at Bloor Street in Toronto. The launch will feature remarks by Deena Ladd of Workers’ Action Centre, Professor Kiran Mirchandani of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and Laurell Ritchie of the Canadian Auto Workers union, as well as a performance by jazz musicians Kye Marshall and Dan Ionescu and a display of photographic artworks by Susana Reisman.

Everyone is welcome to attend the launch. For more information, contact Gowry Siva, research project administrator in the Office of the Dean in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, at ext. 33962 or sgowry@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91ÑÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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