Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT)

		INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS
		International seminars focus on particular aspects of CRIMT’s scientific program, and are organized on the initiative of theme coordinators or those managing subprojects or specific contributions. Interdisciplinary, and in most cases following an open architecture, these meetings bring together a limited number of national and international participants (25-100) with the aim of developing new projects (for example, jointly authored books or special thematic editions of scientific journals). These meetings usually involve a group of researchers that already committed to a project (e.g. a publication, with the circulation of papers beforehand) and, when made into an open forum, a group of observers consisting of graduate students, researchers and labour market actors.

		2013

		22-24 May 2013 • Canada-China Joint Seminar Canada-China Joint Seminar on Labour Dispute Resolution Holiday Inn Guangzhou City Centre Guangzhou, China This joint seminar sought to strengthen Canada-China labour cooperation in a targeted area that will have long-term impacts for Canadian businesses and workers and will support respect for fundamental labour/human rights, good governance, and the rule of law in the development of Chinese labour and employment relations. Through formal and informal exchange of information and best practice, as well as through scenario-based problem-solving exercises, the seminar aimed to: 1) identify challenges and practical issues in labour dispute resolution in China; 2) examine fundamental elements / mechanisms for effective labour dispute resolution / prevention, including transparency and accountability for government, businesses and unions; 3) exchange and identify consensus on innovative and practical solutions with respect to addressing challenges and practical issues; and 4) disseminate these outcomes. This seminar was organized under the auspices of the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Labour Funding Program, in partnership with the School of Industrial Relations (ERIUM) at Université de Montréal, the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), the Canada Research Chair on Globalization and Work and the Guangdong Laowei Law Firm.


		25-26 April 2013 • Conference - CRIMT / Revue Négociations La négociation au travail – Le travail de négociation HEC Montréal (Decelles Building) The Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) and the French-language journal Négociations organized an international conference on negotiating at work and the work of negotiators. This conference took place at HEC Montreal on April the 25th and 26th 2013. Organizing Committee: Reynald Bourque (CRIMT & Université de Montréal), Karine Drolet (CRIMT & Université de Montréal), Marc-Antonin Hennebert (CRIMT & HEC Montréal), Francine Jacques (CRIMT), Mélanie Laroche (CRIMT & Université de Montréal), Gregor Murray (CRIMT DIrector & Université de Montréal), Claude Rioux (CRIMT), Nicolas Roby (CRIMT et Université de Montréal), Christian Thuderoz (Centre Max Weber & INSA de Lyon), Pierre-Eric Tixier (Sciences Po Paris). (Site and documentation in French only) Program Conference Website

		2012

		26-27 June 2012 • International Seminar Temporary Work, Agencies, and Unfree Labour: Insecurity in the New World of Work University of Montreal Montréal, Canada This international seminar brought together contributors to an edited collection entitled TemporaryWork, Agencies, and Unfree Labour: Insecurity in the New World of Work (Routledge, 2013). Over two days, experts from law, political science, and economic geography explored ways in which changes in labour markets, in particular the rise of temporary staffing agencies, relate to the rise of precarious work and new forms of unfree labour. The issues addressed included the regulation and labour standards, migration, the creation of temporary staffing markets, and trends in temporary work in Canada, China, the E.U., France, Namibia and South Africa, the U.K, and the U.S. SSHRC-MCRI subproject(s): 2.1.5 Matériel promotionnel Program


		19-20 April 2012 • International Seminar Working Time University of Montreal Montréal, Canada Using an institutional approach and multi-stakeholder perspective, this international seminar brought together international scholars involved in the production of a special issue of Industrial and Labor Relations Review on the effects of working time configurations across countries. SSHRC-MCRI subproject(s): 5.2.1 Matériel promotionnel Program

		2011

		15-16 December 2011 • International Seminar The Future of Labour Law University of Montreal Montreal, Canada Based on the conclusions of a first seminar on the crisis of labour law, held on September 29th and 30th 2011, participants sought to identify possible ways out of the crisis. In an era of economic, political and legal globalization, such remedies cannot seriously imply a retreat to the national space. Nor can they be ready-made, without adaptation to national specificities (notably social, political and legal). A comparison of national perspectives seems therefore essential to the renewal of labour law, so as to achieve its ultimate goal and most profound justification, that of an industrial democracy. Organized in the context of CRIMT's SSHRC-MCRI Project, this seminar was a joint presentation of the interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), the Faculté des sciences juridiques, politiques et économiques de l’Université d’Avignon, the School of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal and IDHE (ENS de Cachan). Iwill lead to publications. SSHRC-MCRI subproject(s): 3.5.2 Promotional Material Program


		28-29 October 2011 • International Seminar Freedom of Association in Private Transnational Law: How Enforceable are the Commitments of European Countries in North America? Queen's University Kingston, Canada Organized by the Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace at Queen's University, in partnership with CRIMT and the Program in Comparative Labor and Employment Law and Policy at the University of Illinois, this seminar explored the enforceability of such non-contractual instruments as corporate codes of conduct and international framework agreements between firms and international labour federations, as tools for protecting worker freedom of association. Participants included scholars and practitioners from Canada, the United States and Europe as well as Canadian doctoral students and considered the enforceability and efficacy of these tools from an interdisciplinary perspective. SSHRC-MCRI subproject(s): 3.4 Promotional Material Program


		28-29 September 2011 • International Seminar Is There a Crisis of Labour Law? Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse Avignon, France The first of two meetings, this seminar undertook a thorough analysis of the crisis of labour law, crisis which can be observed – albeit in different forms – in most industrialized market economies. This seminar brought together an outstanding cast of labour law and industrial relations academics and experts from Canada, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Italy and Mexico. Labour law varies from one country to the other; its specificities steming, among others, from differences in legal culture, the degree of State intervention, the relative importance of collective bargaining and the degree of labour law's normative and institutional autonomy. But beyond national particularities, the problem underlying the crisis of labour law is quite similar in all industrialized countries: labour law's inability to play its historical role as a mediating factor between the managerial power of employers and the bargaining power of workers and their organizations, particularly in the context of the increasing precariousness of the labour contract, the demise of the Welfare State, the emergence of private legal orders regulating the employment relationship (in which State law play, at best, a very minor role), the erosion of union density and the dramatic effects of corporate restructuring (closures and layoffs, intermediation and subcontracting, relocation and so on). Organized in the context of CRIMT's SSHRC-MCRI Project, this seminar was a join presentation of the Faculté des sciences juridiques, politiques et économiques de l’Université d’Avignon, the interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), the School of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal and IDHE (ENS de Cachan). It will lead to publications in English and French. SSHRC-MCRI subproject(s): 3.5.2 Promotional Material Program


		5 July 2011 • International Seminar Les pratiques des délégués Institut de recherches économiques et sociales Paris, France Summary (French only): Les délégué(e)s bénéficient d’une faible attention dans l’étude des relations industrielles. Ils tendent à être perçus comme la simple prolongation d’institutions « représentatives » qui orientent et résument leurs pratiques. Cela conduit à supposer une certaine uniformité des comportements au sein des systèmes nationaux pour peu que les instances dédiées aient été mises en place. Organized by the Institut de recherches économiques et sociales (IRES), this seminar allowed several CRIMT coresearchers to question this hypothesis based on empirical material gathered from union representatives at the local level. Papers presented at the seminar will be published in a special issue of La Revue de l’IRES. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 4.4.1 Deliverables Publication(s) : Les délégués et le renouveau syndical (2011) A. Hege, C. Lévesque, G. Murray, C. Dufour Revue de l'IRES


		9 May 2011 • International Seminar The Role of the Judges in Global Social Regulation The London School of Economics and Social Science London, United-Kingdom Organized by Claire Marzo, British Academy Fellow at the London School of Economics and Social Science, and coordinated by Marie-Ange Moreau and Renée-Claude Drouin, both CRIMT coresearchers, this seminar pursued reflexion on the role of judges in global social regulation (initiated on the occasion of two previous meetings held in Florence - 2008, and Paris - 2009). This activity was organized in the context of CRIMT's SSHRC-MCRI subproject 3.6. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 3.6 Promotional Material Program

		2010

		29-31 October 2010 • International Seminar Challenges for Work and Workers in the Knowledge Economy Saint Mary's University Halifax, Canada The traditional manufacturing base of the North American economy has been studied and theorized extensively. But the world has changed and a post industrial “knowledge economy” is presenting new challenges. One area especially neglected is that of work and workers in this new economy. The typical full‐time, full‐year, permanent, male‐dominated workforce model in a legal employment relationship with government regulation based on that model demands to be re‐imagined and re‐regulated. These challenges affect all stakeholders – workers and their organizations, employers and their organizations, governments and academics. Following a first meeting held in the fall of 2007, this seminar featured the presentation of high quality papers, some of which will soon be published in an edited volume or special issue of journal. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 4.3.1, 5.1 Promotional Material Seminar Website Deliverables Publication(s) : to be specified


		23-25 September 2010 • International Seminar Transnational Trade Unionism: New Capabilities and Prospects HEC Montréal Montreal, Canada On September 23rd and 25th 2010, an international seminar entitledTransnational Trade Unionism: New Capabilities and Prospectstook place in Montreal, Canada. Held in parallel to the conference on Union Action Without Borders (organized in collaboration with the CISO, the CSQ, the CSN and the FTQ), this seminar was to invite contributions from leading scholars from around the world, and have two days of in-depth discussions on full papers, that were read in advance by each of the participants. This allowed a much deeper engagement with the issues than usually possible in academic conferences. It also gave the participants a real opportunity to receive, consider and debate critiques and suggestions, and as a result significantly improve their papers. A review process which CRIMT coordinators mobilized on numerous occasions in the context of both our SSHRC-MCRI Projects (see Cornell - 2010, Oñati - 2010, Cambridge - 2010, Montreal - 2006, Mexico - 2006, Montréal - 2005, etc.). SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 4.2.3 Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Transnational Trade Unionism: New Capabilities and Prospects (2012) P. Fairbrother, M.A. Hennebert, C. Lévesque (Eds.) (forthcoming)


		16-17 September 2010 • International Seminar Employment Relations in Multinational Corporations Cornell University Ithaca, USA Bringing together leading scholars in research on multinational employment practices from the INTREPID NETWORK (Projet 1.1), this seminar focused on the question of how multinationals decide whether to adopt employment practices that reflect their own home country patterns or the 'host' country norms in which they operate. The incredibly rich data allows the researchers to tease out host and home country effects, as well as corporate and subsidiary policies across a range of dimensions of business and HR strategy, across different countries SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 1.1 Promotional Material Seminar Website Deliverables Publication(s) : Special Issue of Journal (to be specified)


		1-2 July 2010 • International Seminar Blurring Legal Boundaries: Commercialization and informalization of Work Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law Gipuzkoa, Spain This workshop was organised by Professor Judy Fudge, Dr Kamala Sankaran and Dr Shae McCrystal and examined the regulation of work at the boundaries of labour law, in particular the regulation of workers in informal and commercialised work arrangements. Workshop participants came from a host of countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Participation by some delegates was supported by grants from the Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law and the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalisation and Work (CRIMT or le Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail). The Workshop focused squarely on work performed outside of labour law boundaries, the impact of diverse regulatory regimes on workers in those situations and how these regulatory regimes impact the workers concerned. The discussion included case studies covering a diverse snapshot of workers from across developed and developing countries, the formal and informal economies and public and private work spaces and dealt with the failings of traditional labour law, regulation within commercial and informal sectors and new forms of regulation including corporate codes of conduct and supply chain regulations. SSHRC-MCRI Theme(s): Theme 2 Promotional Material Seminar Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Regulating Work: Challenging Legal Boundaries (2011) J. Fudge, S. McCrystal, K. Sankaran (Eds.) (forthcoming)


		8-9 April 2010 • International Seminar The Idea of Labour Law St-Catherine's College University of Cambridge, United-Kingdom The theoretical and empirical inquiry that is needed concerning the purpose of labour law has some very practical implications. The central debates of our time center on the relationship between social justice and economic development, on the fate of social justice in the teeth of globalization, on our understanding of what development is and how it comes about. The fate of labour law in a globalized world rests squarely, albeit uneasily, on the sensitive nerve of these very questions. Thus, the inquiry was to inform directly the concrete issues faced by both developed and developing countries – what role should labour law play (alongside other market institutions) in a viable version of welfare capitalism? Should labour law be changed in order to reflect a new understanding of its role? The idea of this seminar was to invite contributions from leading scholars from around the world, and have two days of in-depth discussions on full papers, that were read in advance by each of the participants. This allowed a much deeper engagement with the issues than usually possible in academic conferences. It also gave the participants a real opportunity to receive, consider and debate critiques and suggestions, and as a result significantly improve their papers. All of which would lead to the publication of an edited volume at Oxford University Press. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 3.5.5 Promotional Material Seminar Website Deliverables Publication(s) : The Idea of Labour Law (2011) G. Davidov, B. Langille (Eds.)

		2009

		7-8 May 2009 • International Seminar The Future of Collective Representation: Concepts for Union Renewal Manoir des sables Orford, Canada Organized in parallel to our 2009 SSHRC-MCRI Project Meeting (2008-2015 grant), this seminar's objective was to explore key ideas that could stimulate new thinking about union revitalization, inform the ways in which we seek to compare experiences of union change and renewal, to take the research agenda forward in terms of concepts, comparisons and methodologies and to prepare for an edited volume on the Future of Collective Representation. Drawing on their previous empirical work, each participant dealt with a concept that he or she believed was likely to be central in our thinking about future forms of collective representation. These included legitimacy, gender, collectivism, power, institutions, democracy, consciousness, scale, time, sustainable development, coalitions. The challenge was to put forward a conceptual take in a stimulating and accessible way that would help participants to reframe their own thinking and narratives about collective representation. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 4.1 Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : The Future of Collective Representation (2010) G. Murray, C. Yates (Eds.) (forthcoming)


		3-4 April 2009 • International Seminar Justice and Globalization in Labour Law. From Legal Justice to Alternate Mechanisms of Conflict Resolution Université Paris I Paris, France Second in a series of seminars organized by the European University Institute (IUE), the interuniversity Resarch Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) and the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (Centre de recherche en droit social et Centre de recherche sur la justice et le procès – Institut André Tunc), this international seminar addressed the link between legal justice, embodied by the figure of the Judge, and alternate mechanisms of conflict resolution. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 3.6 Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Justice et mondialisation en droit du travail (2010) M.-A. Moreau, H. Muir Watt, P. Rodière (Eds.)


		10 March 2009 • International Seminar Ethics and the Social Regulation of the Firm University of Montreal Montreal, Canada Organized in collaboration with the Centre de recherche en éthique de l'Université de Montréal (CREUM) and the Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Research Chair at Université du Québec à Montréal, the seminar brought together international experts on the social regulation of the global firm. Following an open architecture, this activity mobilised several CRIMT coresearchers and PhD students, as well as many other researchers from Canada and abroad. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 1.3 Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : The Regulation of Work and Employment in Global Firms (2011) G. Murray, G. Trudeau (Eds.) (forthcoming) Post-seminar Website Media Library

		2008

		21-22 November 2008 • International Seminar Justice and Globalization in Labour Law: Originality of Cases and Actual or Potential Place of the Judge as Actor in International Social Regulation European University Institute Florence, Italy First in a series of seminars organized by the European University Institute (IUE), the interuniversity Resarch Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) and the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (Centre de recherche en droit social et Centre de recherche sur la justice et le procès – Institut André Tunc), this international seminar addressed the question of the Judge faced with the diversification of norms and legal instruments for transnational social relations. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 3.6 Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Justice et mondialisation en droit du travail (2010) M.-A. Moreau, H. Muir Watt, P. Rodière (Eds.)


		17-19 October 2008 • International Seminar Globalization and the Service Workplace Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies University of British Columbia, Canada This international seminar was organized in collaboration with the University of Bristish Columbia's Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Its goal was threefold: the first goal was to develop a deeper understanding of how global competition is re-organizing different types of service work and in turn, the effects on job quality by generating debate across national boundaries, disciplinary lines, and industries within the service sector. Second, it considered the ability of employment, labour and social policies to regulate service work and shape outcomes for the service workforce. Third, it seeked to evaluate how traditional forms of collective representation (e.g. unions) are responding to globalization. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): 5.1 Promotional Material Seminar Website Poster Deliverables Publication(s) : American Behavioral Scientist (2011) D. Zuberi, D. van Jaarsveld (Eds.) (à paraître)

		2007

		11 October 2007 • International Seminar Knowlege Workers Manoir Chéribourg Orford, Canada Organized in parallel to our 2007 SSHRC-MCRI Meeting (2003-2007 grant), Organisée en marge de la rencontre 2007 des membres du projet CRSH-GTRC (octroi 2003-2007) du CRIMT, this activity explored two central aspects of work in the knowledge economy: new forms of work organization and of labour regulation and the collective representation of knowledge workers. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program


		4-5 April 2007 • International Seminar Enjeux et transformations de la négociation sociale HEC Montréal Montreal, Canada Jointly organized by the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) and the Revue Négociations, in collaboration with the Commission des normes du travail du Québec, the HRM Department at HEC Montréal and the ÉSchool of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal, this seminar covered five major themes related to the transformation of social negotiation: social negotiation and public policies, intra and inter-organization as elements of a social negotiation, mediation as a tool of social negotiation, teaching negotiation, and ethics and training in social negotiation. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program Poster

		2006

		30-31 October 2006 • International Seminar A Comparative Perspective on Vocational Training in Ten Countries: Systems, Innovations and Results - with a particular focus on 21st century challenges for Mexico's vocational training institutions Mexico, Mexico As part of a project led by Gerhard Bosch and Jean Charest (CRIMT coresearchers), a third international seminar on vocational training was held in Mexico on the 30th and 31th of October 2006. The latter followed the seminars held in May 2005 in Montreal (HEC Montréal) and in November 2005 in Gelsenkirchen (Institut Arbeit und Technik). Arnulfo Arteaga Garcia (CRIMT coresearcher) was the principal architect of this scientific activity which was attended by over a hundred academic and labour market participants. The contributions of 17 researchers involved in this comparative project have since been edited by Gerhard Bosch and Jean Charest, and been published in Routledge. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Vocational Training. International Perspectives (2010) G. Bosch, J. Charest (Eds.)


		29-30 September 2006 • International Seminar Mapping the Social in Regional Integration : Rethinking Labour Regulation McGill University Montreal, Canada This activity brought CRIMT's international and interdisciplinary researchers on regional integration together with a select group of leading scholars to participate in a high-level, intensive seminar focused on the challenge of moving beyond the text of formal agreements to consider the empirical vectors of regionalism. By bringing together experts in the field, including those who study areas of burgeoing concern (eg. Central Europe and EU elargement; China; as well as those who have done critical work on some of the less well known regions, eg. CARICOM and OHADA), this seminar constitued a unique forum that served as a landmark for other integrated research on this timely theme. Papers delivered at this seminar have since been edited by Adelle Balckett and Christian Lévesque and been published in Routledge. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program Poster Deliverables Publication(s) : Social Regionalism in the Global Economy (2010) A. Blackett, C. Lévesque (Eds.)


		8-9 June 2006 • International Seminar Firm Restructuring: New Logics, Strategies and Modes of Intervention HEC Montréal Montreal, Canada Projects to modify company structures (ex.: mergers, downsizing, outsourcing, technological change, privatization, etc.) often involve major changes at the strategic, organizational, financial and legal levels. In the past few decades, company restructuring has contributed to the transformation of many industrial sectors. In the current context of globalization, everything points to this movement growing in importance. Restructuring processes have indeed gone from being episodic and radical events to processes of permanent and evolutionary change. The goal of this international seminar was to bring together researchers and practitioners in order to share their work on the phenomenon of restructuring and to exchange on the economic, social and territorial dynamics of restructuring in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Three central questions guided the meeting: What exactly are these restructuring processes and what are the economic, institutional, social and political logics that underlie them? What are the consequences of restructuring for the various actors (employers, unions, governments, etc.) and how do they take part in them? What are the preferred modes of intervention with regards to union initiatives, social policy, and territorial logics? Discussions allowed the researchers and practitioners to pursue their reflection by targeting the demands of the different actors and by identifying perspectives and novel projects that could direct the development of an agenda for international research on the subject of company restructuring. This seminar, which was the result of a collaboration between CRIMT and the Laboratoire IDHE de Cachan (Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Economie), has received financial support from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Management international, Volume 12, Special Issue (2008) P. Jalette, L. Rouleau (Eds.)

		2005

		30-31 October 2005 • International Seminar A Comparative Perspective on Vocational Training in Ten Countries: Systems, Innovations and Results HEC Montréal Montreal, Canada This seminar allowed fifteen researchers from ten countries to present their country's national training system, recent institutional innovations, and their results. One of its main goals was to open a dialogue with labour market partners, and targeted the participation of the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail, the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, the Comités sectoriels de main-d’œuvre, the Ministère de l’Éducation and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. This seminar initiated a series of three international activities on vocational training. The two that followed took place in Gelsenkirchen (October 2005, Institut Arbeit und Technik) and Mexico (October 2006).It led to the publication of an edited volume in Routledge (Vocational Training. International Perspective, edited by Gerhard Bosch and Jean Charest). SSHRC-MCRI Subproject(s): n/a Promotional Material Program Deliverables Publication(s) : Vocational Training. International Perspectives (2010) G. Bosch, J. Charest (Eds.)


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