The Open Learning Program of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Buenos Aires, together with a group of academic institutions, social movement and labour organizations, and workers' groups from Argentina and beyond, is convening the second international gathering on the “The Workers' Economy” on the theme of “Work and Self-management in Times of Global Crisis.” A continuation of the first gathering held in the city of Buenos Aires in July 2007 on the topic of “Self-management and Distribution of Wealth".

Location and Dates

• Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires.
• 480 – Puán Street, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.v
• August 12-15, 2009.

Abstracts and Papers

Send abstracts, papers, and all correspondence in Spanish to: fabierta@filo.uba.ar or centrodoc@gmail.com. In English, send to: UBA.selfmanagement@gmail.com.

Abstracts

Please send a 250-word (max) abstract by May 31, 2009.

Completed Papers

They should be no longer than 25 pages. Text should be 12 point set to Times New Roman or a similar font. Line spacing should be set at no smaller than 1.5 lines. All completed papers must be received by June 20, 2009. Completed papers sent before this date will be included in the gathering's CD

Free Admission, Donations Accepted

The gathering is free for participants and audience members. We invite donations for assisting in the travel expenses of participants from outside of the greater Buenos Aires area.

For U.S. tax-deductible donations, checks in U.S. dollars should be made payable to: Research Associates Foundation. Please write “Workers' Economy Conference” in the memo, and send it to: 9902 Crystal Court, Suite 107 , BC-2323, Laredo , TX 78045 . Donations can also be made on-line at www.globaljusticecenter.org. Please again note on the online form that the donation should be directed to the “Workers' Economy Conference”.

Conference Objetives

The main objective of this year's forum is to generate a space of exchange between scholars, activists, and workers concerned with the problems and possibilities of self-management, as well as the renewal of a political, economic and social strategy by workers and social movements during hard economic times. This year we look to broaden the debates of the first gathering in 2007 by specifically considering the situation created by the current capitalist global crisis. In particular, we are most interested in focusing on the responses by workers and their organizations to the crisis, highlighting what can be learned from the experiences and challenges of self-managed work on the path towards the workers' economy.

Conference Themes

• The new crisis of global capitalism: Analysis and responses from the point-of-view of the workers' economy.
• Self-management within our current conjuncture: The potentiality and limits of contemporary experiences for generating new logics for managing economic life.
• The economy from below: The social economy or the socialization of the economy?
• Workers' organizations in the face of changes to the organization of work by capital.
• The union model in crisis: Labour struggles from the perspective of new organizations.
• Informal, precarious, and menial work: Social exclusion or the reformulation of work within global capitalism?
• Challenges faced by popular governments in the social management of the economy and the state.
• A critical assessment of the cooperative movement.
• The university and popular movements: Issues concerning the methodologies and practices of mutual research.
• See Document "Invitation to participate in II International Gathering. The Workers' Economy. Work and Self Management in times of Global Crisis".

Principal Organizer

The Open Learning Program, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires

Co-organizers

• Argentina Autonomista Project.
• Centre for Global Justice, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
• Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), York University, Toronto, Canada.
• Centre of Advanced Studies, National University of Cordoba , Argentina.
• Department of Social Relations, Autonomous Univeristy of Mexico-Xochimilco, Mexico.
• Federation of Energy Workers of Argentina (FeTERA-CTA), Argentina.
• Movement of Territorial Liberation (Movimiento Territorial de Liberación, MTL), Argentina.

Volver