https://www.eventbrite.com/e/labour-organizing-in-games-and-the-future-of-work-tickets-93486156611
Fri, March 27, 2020 – 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM GMT
Games labour has been a topic of sustained interest in this hybrid tech/creative sector, and with increasing globalization of production, transnational teams, and decentralized platform-based work conditions, the future of gameswork only becomes a more pressing issue. At the same time, the emerging global labour movement in games spearheaded by Game Workers Unite as well as efforts to form unions in other tech fields indicate the rise of a potential new wave of collective organizing in a henceforth highly individualized creative field. What are the challenges faced in labour action in games, what lessons can be learned for other forms of tech work, and what are the implications for more inclusive and sustainable futures?
To address these questions, please join us for a series of roundtable discussions tackling the future of work in creative tech work. Labour activists and critical scholars will grapple with pernicious challenges and powerful opportunities including intersectional approaches to labour organizing, dealing with decentralized and globalized contexts of production, and the material realities of coordinating immaterial workers. Through these conversations, we aim to set out an agenda for collaboration and collective action for fairer and more just work in games specifically and the digital industries more broadly.
The event schedule is below. Please note that the event will be recorded. Attendees with specific dietary requirements should contact the organizer.
12:00-1:00- Lunch and informal introductions
1:00-1:10- Opening remarks
1:10-2:10- Intersectional Approaches to Games Work and Labour Organizing
Chair: Alison Harvey
Roundtable participants: Kevin Agwaze, Rebecca Davnall, Marijam Didžgalvytė, Helen Kennedy
2:10-2:25- Tea break
2:25-3:25- Global Views on Organizing Decentralized Workers
Chair: Ed Vollans
Roundtable participants: Ergin Bulut, Daniel Joseph, Aphra Kerr, Anna Ozimek
3:25-3:40- Tea break
3:40-4:40- Material Concerns in the Organization of Immaterial Labour
Chair: Oz Gore
Roundtable participants: Tom Brock, Paolo Ruffino, Jamie Woodcock
4:40-5:00- Closing remarks by Alison Harvey and Oz Gore
5:00-6:00- Refreshments
This event is supported by the CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies, University of Leicester.