This British Journal of Industrial Relations Special Issue invites contributions that apply comparative perspectives on Technological Change, Power, and Work, with a focus on Europe and North America (specifically the USA and Canada). The Special Issue is based upon two workshop sessions organized by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven) and Chris Tilly (UCLA) at the ILERA/LERA World Congress 26- 30 June 2024.
Research in sociology and political economy from socio-economic and socio-political traditions on industrial relations and work have broadly investigated the challenges posed by technological change in workplaces, sectors, and countries alike. These topics have been the subject of great interest within the tradition of labour, industrial, and employment relations studies, especially since the work of Braverman (1974). In contrast to the dominant functionalist view, which simplifies and limits the understanding of technical development by assuming that a society’s technology only advances based on its internal efficiency-driven logic (Dunlop, 1958), while also influencing the development of social structure and cultural values to make all industrial societies more similar (Kerr et al., 1973[1960]), studies in the tradition of labour process theories, industrial sociology, and political economy have widely acknowledged that ‘technology is not deterministic and neutral’ (Bélanger and Edwards, 2007: 717), and that industrial relations institutions can play a key role in mediating the effects of such technology. At the same time, these studies have appreciated that technology can ‘offer a more or less favourable ground for job autonomy, control over work, and power’ (Bélanger, 2006: 336) by demonstrating how patterns of management control, worker effort and workplace conflict are tied to the labour process (e.g., Burawoy, 1985), and how much of this control is exercised through the ‘technical and the human organization of work’ (Thompson, 1989: 19). In so doing, these studies have facilitated a deeper understanding of the workers’ experiences of autonomy and the alienating conditions of their work (Blauner, 1964). Such perspectives, therefore, have the potential to explain how the design and implementation of a given technology is likely to shape the balance of power, coercion and legitimation used by management to govern labour in a way that reflects the social context (and the nature of the employment relationship) in which technologies are embedded
The journal and it’s guest editor Peter Turnbull (University of Bristol, UK) invite rich empirical contributions that carefully study the processes and dynamics underpinning the social embeddedness of new and old technologies within (and across) contemporary workplaces and sectors. This can involve examining the ideational perspectives and viewpoints. IR literature has widely illustrated how ideas can function as instruments to mobilize and garner public support for the less privileged individuals or groups without established institutional authority (Frege, 2005; Hauptmeier and Heery, 2014; Morgan and Hauptmeier, 2021). They are also interested in theoretical contributions that enable us to advance toward a coherent framework of how and when power dynamics around work matter for identified outcomes around technology at work.
Long abstracts (max. 1,000 words, excluding references) are to be submitted to the guest editor at peter.turnbull@bristol.ac.uk by 31 July 2024. The deadline for submission of full papers will be 28 February 2025. All full papers will undergo double-blind review.
For further details of the call, visit: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/14678543/cfp/BJIR-CFP-Technological-Change-Power-and-Work-1710467358137.pdf