News release
Gender, Work and Organization Conference Call for Stream Proposals Due Sept. 25
Gender, Work and Organization
14th International Interdisciplinary Conference
2024 Call for Stream Proposals
Conference theme:
Imagining Decolonising Knowledge Exchanges:
Embracing the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Decolonisation, Inclusion and Indigenisation (JEDDII) Way
17 - 20 June 2024
hosted by the Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University
The deadline for stream proposals: September 25, 2023
Stream proposals can be sent to: GWO2024@cbu.ca
PDF file with stream proposal information
DOCX file with stream proposal information
Launched in 1994, Gender, Work and Organization was the first journal to provide an arena dedicated to debate and analysis of gender relations, the organisation of gender and the gendering of organisations. The Gender, Work and Organization (GWO) conference provides an international forum for continuing those debates and analysis of historical and contemporary issues affecting gender studies at work, in organising work, and in jobs. The journey of this international conference is one punctuated by moving from the United Kingdom to Bogota, Columbia, to Stellenbosch, South Africa, and for 2024, moving to Mi’kmaw’ki/Atlantic Canada, to the geographic region of Unama’ki commonly known as Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
The 2024 GWO conference and its theme reflect our desire to engage in critical conversations that encourage participants to (re)imagine forms of knowledge exchange by leaning into issues related to justice, equity, diversity, decolonisation, inclusion and indigenisation (JEDDII). The organising committee of this conference, a diverse community of scholars, instructors, students, and policy specialists, are representatives from the broader community in and among the Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, and the Unama’ki region. In a world that is more and more polarised after such experiences and events as Trumpism, pandemics, social divisions, wars, and gender and racial justice inequities, we hope to inspire attendees to reflect on their relationships and their co-existence with diverse communities and places. We aim to build meaningful and compelling resistance and activism experiences for attendees while embracing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as part of a reconciliation framework. We welcome submissions for stream proposals for this onsite, online and hybrid conference.
In Unama’ki/Cape Breton, we hope attendees will be inspired by the place and geography that has been home to Mi'kmaw people, whether it be with peers, vendors, communities, or land. Our venue and atmosphere will foster collaborative co-learning that will allow for issues to be presented, discussed and debated that are critical to decolonisation and indigeneity, along with gender knowledges and practices in organising work. Such knowledges include postcolonial and decolonial feminisms, intersectionality scholarship and critical race theory, feminist disability scholarship, resistance and activism, to name a few areas.
Theme: Imagining Decolonising Knowledge Exchanges: Embracing the JEDDII Way
The geopolitics of Canada and the Indigenous Nations of this country are complicated by colonial histories and legacies of colonisation. Yet, Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and newcomers to this place strive to work together in the spirit of reconciliation. We believe by gathering in this co-learning environment that we will all be contributing to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) calls to action and be responsive to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and calls to justice.
The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The TRC, based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, was created in response to the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples who were forcibly placed into residential schools starting in the 1800s. These residential schools were products of both churches and the Canadian government to eradicate Indigenous language and culture. To date, there are 4,118 children documented as dying at residential schools; however, with recent discoveries of unmarked burial sites, the expectation is that this number will increase significantly (CBC News 2021). The TRC had the mandate to address the legacy of this cultural genocide, and from 2008 until 2014, the TRC listened to thousands of individuals who survived these residential schools.
The TRC released their report in 2015, titled “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action”, which made 94 calls grouped as follows: child welfare (1-5); education (6-12); language and culture (13-17); health (18-24); justice (25-42); and reconciliation (43-94). Also, policy directives toward achieving economic development clearly support First Nation’s rights to self-determination and self-government. Focusing on just two of these 94 calls, education and business, they are introduced here for the international community that may not be aware of the Canadian TRC’s work and their calls to action. There are education calls to work with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians (status: projects underway (CBC News 2022), and to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education (status: projects proposed (CBC News 2022). From a business perspective, there is a call made to the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources. This would include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects.
- Ensure that Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.
- Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism (status: not started (CBC News 2022).
The Canadian Calls for Justice
The TRC has acknowledged that a key weakness in their call to action is that they did not explicitly address women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. The National Inquiry into MMIWG was mandated to investigate and report the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals (National Inquiry into MMIWG, 2019a). While the TRC’s calls to action embrace a pan-Indigenous approach, the National Inquiry into MMIWG specifically recognises the different communities with their own political, legal, social, cultural and economic systems. The final report and the concurrent calls to justice from the National Inquiry are important calls to activism and resistance that also inform this theme.
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Decolonisation, Inclusion and Indigeneity
If the choice is to do nothing concerning these calls to action and calls to justice, then the costs associated with maintaining the status quo will continue to “rise without limit” (McCallum 1997, 34). The mistreatment of Indigenous populations has had a significant and far-reaching impact; illness due to lack of proper health care, mental anguish due to multiple cultural genocides, poverty and social dysfunction of Indigenous peoples are extensively documented (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1996). Furthermore, continuing NOT to provide labour development needs, such as training, education and access to regional, national and international conferences, will negatively impact Indigenous populations.
The GWO 2024 organisational committee invites proposals for stream topics that respond to this conference theme, reflecting the Canadian TRC and the National Inquiry into MMIWG, along with addressing Indigenous concerns that the United Nations Declaration reflects on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We believe that the JEDDII theme encourages the reimagination of the status quo and taken-for-granted aspects of gender, work and organisations. We seek to provide a forum for transdisciplinary research in GWO areas that will resonate with the international and national gender and feminist network of colleagues in such a way as to contribute to the following (not exhaustive):
- decolonising feminisms and gender studies in management and organisation studies
- exploring Two-Spirit people’s perspectives of circulating around gender, sexuality and spirituality, and employment policies
- exploring oral traditions and organisational histories for gender and feminist knowledge development
- exploring Indigenous ways of knowing and research methodologies for organisational research, including culturally relevant gender-based analysis (CRGBA) (Native Women’s Association of Canada [NWAC] 2022)
- exploring accessibility and applications of land-based and place-based pedagogies in management and organisational studies
- creating and supporting collaborative networks among women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities within organisations and management programs
- intersectionality scholarship and creating a healing culture in organisational research
- reaching within the communities we work in and with, notably within Indigenous communities, to build important relationships that assist in developing gender and feminist studies in work and organisations
- broaden our collective understanding of systems of knowledge in organisational research beyond arguments of validity, reliability, etc.
- changing workforce dynamics and exploring the roles of youth and elders in organisations
- create links between diverse perspectives, including critical Indigenous/decolonial knowledges with gender and feminist literatures in the workplace
Details on stream proposals outside of the conference theme
The conference will be organised primarily as a series of streams. Stream convenors are invited to submit stream proposals that answer the theme of this conference, but proposals outside this theme within the broad remit of GWO are also welcome. The organising committee will work to ensure a diverse range of stream topics while broadening the GWO reach to Indigenous concerns that are on the periphery of dominant social science disciplines.
Stream proposals should be written as a call for abstracts on a particular topic or along the conference's theme. There will also be an open stream catering to authors whose paper abstract is accepted but does not fit into the submitted stream. The organising committee of GWO 2024 will manage this open stream and the conference theme stream.
What is the role of the stream convenors?
Stream convenors for each stream should ideally span across at least three countries in such a way as to represent diverse contexts and perspectives. We are also encouraging stream convenor teams between institutions in Canada or other countries facing similar concerns with acknowledging the Truth towards respecting Indigenous populations per the conference's theme.
Please indicate in the call for stream proposals the convenor's preference for onsite, online or hybrid (onsite/online) format. Note that the call for stream proposals must address a justification for a hybrid (onsite/online) stream. The hybrid format decision rests with the organising committee as they can view and assess all classroom availability with online capabilities, financial implications (e.g., hiring an outside audio video provider to provide this hybrid format) and identified needs of potential participants across the streams.
Stream convenors are responsible for the following:
- Drafting a call for abstracts for their stream (the stream proposal)
- Indicating a preference for an onsite, online, or combined (hybrid) stream. Justification for the hybrid option must be addressed in the stream proposal to ensure fair and equitable treatment of participants who would benefit most from such an option.
- Submitting the stream proposal to the GWO 2024 organisers by the deadline for assessment by the organising committee, resulting in acceptance, modification, or respectful decline
- Once a stream proposal is accepted, generating publicity for their stream’s call for abstracts by using their own as well as the GWO networks
- Conducting a blind review process and then selecting abstracts for inclusion within their stream, redirecting abstracts that might fit in another stream or the open stream while respecting deadlines
- Collating a list of accepted abstracts and submitting the list to the GWO 2024 organisers
- Attending the GWO 2024 conference and co-ordinating/chairing the stream during the conference
- Editing a special issue for the GWO journal, if such is agreed by the GWO editorial team.
Stream proposal formatting and important dates
Please format your stream proposal as follows:
- No more than 1,500 words in length total (excluding references)
- MS Word document only (that will be changed later into a PDF document once approved)
- 12 pt size sans serif fonts (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans or alternative equivalents such as Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, etc.)
- 1.5 line spacing
- US letter size (8 ½ x 11) paper size with standard margins all around (2.54 cm or 1 inch).
The stream proposal must include the following details about the subsequent call for abstracts:
Abstracts of approximately 500 words (excluding references) must be submitted to the GWO 2024 submission system. No independent abstract submissions (i.e., an abstract submitted to someone’s personal email) will be considered for acceptance or presentation at the conference. Stream convenors will be conducting a blind review process and redirecting abstracts to the organising committee for consideration in the open stream if and when appropriate. The abstract itself should then not have any author details included to ensure this blind review process. Abstract formatting specifics are available in the submission system.
Abstracts are due by December 1st, 2023, with decisions on acceptance to be made by stream convenors within one month (by January 2nd, 2024). No extensions to this deadline will be possible as some participants will need appropriate time and justification documents to secure visas to attend the conference onsite.
Stream proposals must be sent to the GWO2024@cbu.ca email by September 25th, 2023. No extensions to this delivery date are possible.
Depending on the volume of streams submitted, decisions on stream proposals' acceptance, modification or respectful decline will be communicated to stream convenors the week of October 9th, 2023.
Schedule of Events
June 17th: Registration, Doctoral Consortium, Opening Plenary
June 18th – 20th: Main Conference Dates
June 21st: National Aboriginal Day (we welcome you to participate in this special day; however, this is not part of conference-run activities)
General Enquiries
Any enquiries, including questions about the call for stream proposals and call for abstracts, about the GWO 2024 conference itself, etc., can be directed to GWO2024@cbu.ca.
A dedicated website for GWO 2024 and a save-the-date landing page are now available.
The website will have detailed information about the conference, registration information, schedule of events, etc., soon.
Wela’lin, Thank You, Merci, Tapadh leibh,
Stefanie Ruel Mary Beth Doucette
Stephanie Gilbert Bishakha Mazumdar
Tammy Bernasky Mary Jane Morrison
Gauri Sood
Native Women’s Association of Canada
References
CBC News. 2021. “Why It’s Difficult to Put a Number on How Many Children Died at Residential Schools.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/residential-school-children-deaths-nu....
CBC News. 2022. “Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.” https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-single/beyond-94?&cta=1.
McCallum, J. 1997. “Aboriginal Economic Development.” Royal Bank of Canada. https://www.rbc.com/indigenous/_assets-custom/pdfs/The-Cost-of-Doing-Not....
Native Women’s Association of Canada [NWAC]. 2022. “SPARK-NWAC-CRGBA: Native Women’s Association of Canada Research Toolkit:”
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. 1996. “Looking Forward, Looking Back.” https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/royal-commiss....
