2023 Graduate Student Symposium: Critical Conversations in Work and Labour

The Global Labour Research Centre (GLRC) at York University is pleased to welcome you to the 8th annual Graduate Student Symposium: Critical Conversations in Work and Labour. This virtual conference is designed to showcase the scholarship of new voices in labour studies across a diverse range of disciplines. It is our hope that the workshop will provide an interdisciplinary venue for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to share their research in a collaborative and supportive environment.

Program

The Symposium will be held virtually from October 12-13, 2023. Sessions on Thursday run concurrently. Zoom registration links are included in the program below. Attendees must register for each panel separately.

Thursday, October 12
Friday, October 13

9:15 am – 10:45 am ET
Register here

Moderator: Cheuk Ming Tsang (City University of Hong Kong)
Respondent: Katherine Nastovski (York University)

Hate Symbols, Workplace Culture and Incidents of Anti-Black Racism in Toronto’s Construction Industry
Chante Barnwell (York University)

Bent into Shape: Exploring How Legacies of Colonialism Shape(d) Labour in The Bahamas
D’Andra Knowles (McMaster University)

The Finnish Labour Market Hegemonies and Nuanced Racial Microaggressions: “Legal” Discrimination in Recruitment Process in Finland
Frank Ojwang (University of Lapland)

The Impact of Gender and Race on Experiencing Alienation at Work as Barriers to Entering Higher Status Positions
Daniela Petrovski (York University)

Memes and Cryptocurrency: Racial Capitalism’s GUI Metaverse
Nathi Zamisa (York University)

9:15 am – 10:45 am ET
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Moderator: Anneka Bosse (York University)
Respondent: Paul Gray (Brock University)

Collective Bargaining and the Right to Strike in the Public Sector
Cvitan Brkic (York University)

Negotiating Statelessness and Homeland: Sri Lankan Repatriates, Rehabilitation and Kerala’s Rubber Estates
Parvati Dhananjayan (Geneva Graduate Institute)

The Culture of Ignorance in Neoliberalism: Examining the Blame Game and Individual Responsibility
Sahar Siavashi (York University)

Essential to What? Mapping Essential Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Adam Zvric (McMaster University)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET
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Moderator: Cheuk Ming Tsang (City University of Hong Kong)
Respondent: Coşku Çelik (Kadir Has University; York University)

Contextualising Food Advocacy in the Community as Mother-Work
Shruti Raji Kalyanaraman (York University)

Queering the Workplace: Addressing Challenges in Employment for LGBT Individuals in India
Lovepreet Kaur (York University)

Conceptions and Dynamics of Au Pairing in the Literature
Catharina Lopes Scodro (Université de Strasbourg)

Exploring the Gendered Challenges for Women’s Work in the Egyptian Garment Industry
Ahmed Mohamed (York University)

Labour in Marx’s Writings: A Feminist Critique and Reconsideration
Talita Yaltırık (York University)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET
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Moderator: Véronique Sioufi (Simon Fraser University)
Respondent: Klara Öberg (Halmstad University)

Digital Circuits of Aspirational and Leisure Work: Craft in the Platform Economy
Benjamin Anderson (Simon Fraser University)

Masculinity and Gig Work: A Case Study of Rideshare Workers in Toronto
Maya Campo (York University)

A Necessary Strategy: The Need to Organize Platform Workers
Gerard Di Trolio (McMaster University)

Platform Work in South-East Europe: A Case Study of Croatia and Serbia
Jelena Starcevik (McMaster University)

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm ET
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Moderator: Shruti Kalyanaraman (York University)
Respondent: Angele Alook (York University)

Decolonial Delinking, a New International Economic Order, & Climate Catastrophes
Martin Barakov (York University)

Labour Union Experimentation for a Just Energy Transition
Vincent Collins (York University)

Can’t Stand the Heat? Get Out of the Kitchen: The Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on Food Service Workers in British Columbia
Jen Kostuchuk (University of Victoria)

Building Power: Labour Unions and Climate Change in Ontario’s Electrical Sector
Aidan McNally (McMaster University)

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm ET
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Moderator: Véronique Sioufi (Simon Fraser University)
Respondent: Steven Tufts (York University)

Shaping the Future of Remote Work through Collective Bargaining
Oluwapelumi Ogunrinde (York University)

Can We Prevent Abusive Supervisor Behaviour at Remote Work by Reducing Technostress?
Daniela Petrovski (York University) & Ayesha Tabassum (York University)

Work in the Crypto Industry: Empowering or Precarious?
Alex Quesnel (York University)

9:15 am – 10:45 am ET
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Moderator: Anneka Bosse (York University)
Respondent: Leah Vosko (York University)

Labour Intermediation in Export Geographies: Labour Contractors and Labour Discipline During Sweet Cherry Harvest in Western Turkey
Nil Alt (University of Toronto)

Lived Experiences of Paid Cashew Work and Unpaid Domestic Work: A Study Among Women Working in Cashew Processing in Kollam, Kerala
Abi Babu (Tata Institute of Social Sciences)

Labour Transformation Across Space and Time: A Case Study of Two Villages in South India
Yadu C R (RV University)

Agrarian Transformation and Labour Migration as Co-constitutive Factors in Uneven Development: A Labour Regimes Analysis Between Ontario and Guatemala
Chris Little (York University)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET
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Moderator: Leah McGrath Reynolds (McMaster University)
Respondent: Mark Thomas (York University)

“Full Support” of Strike Action: When Doctoral Students Become Labourers
Kusum Bhatta (McMaster University) & Elizabeth Grigg (McMaster University)

Challenging Workplace Dynamics: Black Women’s Experiences in the Post-George Floyd Era
Dara Dillon (York University)

Precarious Work and Mental Health, with Special Consideration for How Post-Secondary Graduates are Coping with Precarity
Ryan Duffy (York University)

One Day I Will Destroy This Place
Shyam Patel (York University)

Critical Pedagogy: Mental Health Issues and Attrition Rates at PhD Level Education
Daniela Petrovski (York University)

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm ET
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Moderator: Leah McGrath Reynolds (McMaster University)
Respondent: Nisha Toomey (York University)

From Caregiver to Personal Support Worker: Labour Market Segmentation Amongst Filipina Former Live-in Caregivers in the Greater Toronto Area
Nikki Mary Pagaling (York University)

Overworked and Under-Appreciated: Attending to Workers’ Feelings to Improve Work and Care Experiences
Christine Streeter (Carleton University)

Symposium Organizing Committee


Anneka Bosse	PhD Candidate, Communication and Culture	York University
Shruti Kalyanaraman	PhD Candidate, Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies	York University
Leah McGrath Reynolds	PhD Candidate, Labour Studies	McMaster University
Véronique Sioufi	PhD Candidate, Human Geography	Simon Fraser University
Cheuk Ming Tsang	PhD Candidate, Public and International Affairs	City University of Hong Kong

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, as well as our co-sponsors:

Department of Politics, York University
Department of Sociology, York University
Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies Program, York University
Public Policy, Administration & Law Program, York University
School of Human Resources Management, York University
School of Labour Studies, McMaster University
Social and Political Thought Program, York University