Programme full

Stream Plenaries and Special Sessions
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2015 17:00-18:00
Work, Employment and Economic Life
A005, GOVAN MBEKI BUILDING
FUN AT WORK
As several European economies emerge from recession this plenary will offer insights into conditions of work in
relation to discourses of fun, happiness and transgression. The discussion will centre around how fun is deployed by
employers as a stimulant to productivity and conversely how fun is used subversively in working environments by
employees to relieve boredom, undermine colleagues or challenge corporate objectives, amongst many other things.
Presidential Event
W622, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
IS THERE A BRITISH SOCIETY?
Sociologists never accepted the view once expressed by Mrs Thatcher that there is no such thing as a society only
individuals and their families but the conflation of society and nation-state has long been regarded as
problematic. The possibility of a ‘British society’ as combining structural arrangements and imagined community -
whether of ‘one nation’ or ‘equal citizens’ - is complicated not only by the multi-national state with more or less
devolved governance but also by other, sometimes widening socio-economic and socio-cultural divisions. This panel
brings together experts on nationalism, ethnicity, biographical and social change and social theory to engage with the
audience in a dialogue about whether sociologists have a critical use for the concept ‘British society’ now and in the
future.
BSA president, Lynn Jamieson will chair a panel of Dr Michael Rosie, Sociology, University of Edinburgh, Dr Nasar
Meer, University of Strathclyde and Professor Ann Phoenix, IOE, University of London and make sure they give the
audience time to join in.
41 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University