Call For Papers
The Center for Governance and Public Management (CGPM), at the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), promotes high-quality research, praxis and public policy in the area of corporate governance. To that end, we are putting forth this call for papers for our upcoming international conference titled ‘Creating Inclusive Organizational and Public Spaces’ to be held at LUMS in Lahore on 30-31 March 2018.
MAIN THEME: CREATING INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONAL AND PUBLIC SPACES
Availability, and accessibility of personal and public space represents one of the central concerns of these turbulent times. While an ideal public space should be open and accessible to individuals irrespective of their background or identity, in practice, public space almost always entails limitations and exclusions based on law, public policy and local norms. Similarly, with the increasing ubiquity of surveillance and social media in our lives, availability of personal space (material and ideological) is increasingly becoming a contested domain.
Management plays a central role in maintaining the system of permissions and prohibitions that sustain the particular socially constructed nature of space in an organization or polity. For example, material and social management of space within organizations leads to unequal distribution of status and power; factors that in turn lead to suboptimal individual and organizational performance. Similarly, as the Black Lives Matter movement highlights, police officials are often responsible for extra surveillance and selective implementation of the law on different minorities hindering their presence in the public space.
Hence, organizational and social spaces are not neutral. Instead, while some modes of expression, identities and bodies are treated as normal – even ideal – others deemed deviant are either denied access or marked for surveillance and subsequent marginalization and invisibility. At the same time, management and policy can also play a critical role in creating more accessible and inclusive spaces in organizations and society. All this makes space as an important site of governance and management.
This inter-disciplinary conference aims to bring together scholars having different thematic, geographical and methodological expertise to engage with contemporary debates about the governance and management of space in contemporary organizations and polity.
Suggested streams can include, but are not limited to the following:
Management of Organizational Spaces:
In this theme, we encourage scholars to engage with the debates on management and distribution of (material and ideological) space within contemporary organizations. We are also interested in papers that analyze the difference ways in which organizations can be made more inclusive. We also welcome papers that explore the intersection between personal space and increased surveillance through technological and disciplinary measures in contemporary organizations.
Governance of Public Space:
In this theme, we encourage papers that explore the intersections between government, citizens, and the public space. Given the rise of neoliberalism, papers in this theme can also explore increasing commodification and private ownership of public spaces. We also encourage papers that explore the role of bureaucracy in accessibility, management and inclusiveness of public spaces.
Gender and Space:
Papers included in this theme can focus on investigating how patriarchal governance of space in contemporary organizations and polity lead to privileging the (socially defined) masculine identities and behaviors while marginalizing behaviors labeled as non-masculine. The role of management, law and policy in facilitating this process can also be explored.
Diversity, Identity and Governance of Space:
In addition to gender, other axis of identity (like race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality and socioeconomic status) also influence the nature of organizational and social spaces. In this theme, we welcome papers that explore the intersection between diversity and management of space within contemporary organizations and polity. We are particularly interested in papers and/or case studies that highlight innovative ways of managing space within organizations and society in a more inclusive manner.
Governance of Virtual Spaces:
With the rise of social media, virtual public space has become an important site of governance, collaboration and democracy. On the flip side, threats of cyber terrorism, hacking, cyber-bullying and identity theft are also on the rise. This makes virtual space as an important site of governance. Papers in this theme should investigate these themes and should also focus on attempts by different governments to facilitate or limit free speech in the virtual sphere.
Power, politics and Space:
Organizational and public spaces are also arenas where different stakeholders engage in power and politics to advance their own interests. Papers in this theme can explore the various ways in which space acts as a mediator of power relations and how access and distribution of space can be used to marginalize or empower specific groups.
Environment, Urban Management as Public Space:
Our physical and natural environments intersect with personal and social space in important ways. Provision of spaces for public assembly; public transportation and parking facilities; and provision of green technologies for sustainability are some of the ways in which environment and urban management intersect with accessibility and sustainability of public space. In addition to these themes, papers can also explore how the city can be imagined as a larger public space and the different rights of publics to urban spaces.
Democracy and Public Space:
Public space has been identified as the site of transformational democracy by scholars like Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas. Others contend that public spaces that can serve as the site of such politics are fast disappearing. Papers in this theme should explore the democratic potential of contemporary public spaces, the reasons for their disappearance and strategies available to the public to create new public spaces.
Organizations as Public Spaces:
Formal organizations like educational institutions, hospitals and public malls raise interesting questions related to the nature of public space and their governance. Papers in this theme can explore the different ways in which public policy, management and the profit imperative influence the “publicness” of space and interactions within such organizations.
Public, Private and Hybrid Spaces:
In this theme, we encourage papers that explore the nature of space in contemporary society. Does it make sense to talk about the public-private distinction when it comes to space? Are we all living in a public space where nothing is private anymore? Is this public space being managed privately or publicly? Is there merit in being nostalgic for public space? Is our mind the only private space available to us? How can we articulate the nature of space different from the public-private distinction in a world where all of us are cyborgs (human-technology hybrids)?
Open Stream:
Authors are welcome to explore other themes related to governance, management and democratic potential of public spaces. New themes and panels will be added based on the types of submissions received.
We welcome both empirical and theoretical papers as well case studies that explore the main theme in interesting innovative ways. We especially encourage doctoral students, early career researchers, practitioners and policy makers to submit their work and participate in the conference.
Doctoral Colloquium
We especially encourage doctoral students to present their research in the main conference. However, a separate colloquium will be organized on March 29 for the doctoral students. This is a great opportunity for doctoral students to get feedback on their work from experienced management scholars and explore potential collaborations as well. Experienced management scholars will also share their knowledge about undertaking doctoral research and pursuing a career as an academic. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the tacit knowledge underlying a PhD process and to get useful insights on how to complete a PhD in a successful way. The detailed guidelines for submitting your work to the doctoral colloquium are available at https://iccgpm.lums.edu.pk
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
1. Dr. Beverly Dawn Metcalfe (Professor in International Management and Development, Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
2. Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali (Dean, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences)
SCHOLARLY PROGRAMME CO-CHAIRS
Dr. Muhammad Azfar Nisar (Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan)
Dr. Ahsan Rana (Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan)
Dr. Mohsin Bashir (Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan)
GUIDELINES
1. The submitted paper/case (including title, abstract, main text, figures, tables, exhibits, references, etc.) should be saved in MS Word format.
2. To facilitate the blind review process, please remove ALL authors’ identifying information including authors’ names, affiliation, email address and acknowledgements from the main file, including document/file properties. Author information and acknowledgements should be provided on a SEPARATE document.
3. Font should be Times New Roman 12-pitch font, double spaced.
4. All pages should be numbered.
The deadline to receive your full papers (5000 to 8000 words), developing papers (1000 to 3000 words) or cases (2000-5000 words) is December 31 2017. The online submission of papers would open on November 1 2017 on https://iccgpm.lums.edu.pk
Presenters shall receive notification of the decision by 1st February 2018
Best Paper Awards will be presented during the conference