Time, Thought, Materiality: Africa and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Session

Session V

4 Sep 2019, 08:30

School of Tourism and Hospitality

Contribution list Timetable

20. Graduate Employability, Human Development And The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Tracing The Career Paths Of Sociology Alumnus At The University Of Johannesburg

Prof. Pragna Rugunanan (University of Johannesburg)

04/09/2019, 08:30

Plenary

Speaker

Graduate unemployment is rapidly becoming a rising concern in South Africa. Graduates tend to experience obstacles during the employment phase largely due to the lack of required labour market skills. While the envisaged fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is perceived to promote unemployment for soft-skilled professions, it is widely applauded by highly skilled technological careers. Given the...

21. The Fractured Labour Process And Responses To It

Prof. Carin Runciman (University of Johannesburg)

04/09/2019, 08:55

Plenary

Speaker

The rise of new forms of ‘precarious’ work in South Africa over the last few decades has necessitated a return to the study of the capitalist labour process. Labour broking, outsourcing, contract work and casual work are often described as ‘atypical’ forms of work but, as we will demonstrate, they have fast become the norm. In this paper we will detail how workplace restructuring has gone...

41. The indispensable nature of ‘illegal’ and deportable migrants within the South African labour market: Migrant workers in South Africa in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Prof. Tapiwa Chagonda (University of Johannesburg)

04/09/2019, 09:20

Plenary

Speaker

Debates on the 4IR are raging within the academy, as scholars endeavor to grapple with the pros and cons of this revolution. Within the labour market, fears have been expressed by scholars on how the 4IR might disrupt the traditional work environment as we have known it, as some of the semi-skilled and even skilled office workers might end up being made redundant by technology and robots. It...

50. Towards An Inclusive 4IR For South Africa Impact On Labour, Youth And Communities In SA

Mr Ashraf Patel (Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD))

04/09/2019, 09:45

Plenary

Speaker

The advent of the 4IR within elite WEF formations, is continuation of Castells’ critical theorisation of ‘informational capitalism and ‘ space of flows’ as the highest forms of new imperialism ( David Harvey, 2013). Even progressives within mainstream institutions, such as Professor Joseph Stiglitz (2009) have come to acknowledge the information power symmetries - and possibilities and...

49. Discussion

Prof. Lauren Graham (University of the Witwatersrand)

04/09/2019, 10:05

Plenary

Discussion

Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session V)