Message from the Director

I’m delighted to take on the role of Director, and to join the dedicated and vibrant community of scholars, practitioners and students at the GLRC. I’m fortunate to inherit the solid foundation provided by past directors Mark Thomas and Stephanie Ross, and interim director Kelly Pike.

This is an important moment for the GLRC community. We are experiencing a time of turbulence in the diverse world of work. Multiple forces – such as the climate emergency, forced mobility and immobility, and automation – converge to threaten livelihoods of individuals and groups all across the globe. At the same time, growing inequality, fractured social relations, and historical and ongoing structural violence provoke great rifts between us, often setting up fierce competition and conflict rather than cooperation and creativity. Rapidly shifting global landscapes provide both opportunities and challenges for real-world research, practical education, and engaged leadership on pressing issues related to work, labour and livelihoods.

My vision for the GLRC is to enhance, expand and mobilize our diverse and inclusive community of scholars and practitioners to advance engaged, relevant, and political research to critically examine and address these urgent issues. The GLRC is well-positioned for encouraging and supporting trans-disciplinary collaboration, imagination, and action, as it has become a hub for pan-university research excellence and collaboration amongst York’s nationally and internationally renowned faculty who study work and labour issues. The GLRC also facilitates graduate and undergraduate student training and community-building, promotes community engagement for social justice-oriented research through links to a substantial community of practitioners and the broader public, and acts as a vehicle for internationalization, pursuing research and learning connections through collaborative international research partnerships.

I look forward to working with faculty, students and community partners to cultivate and showcase imaginative and collaborative research and dialogue.