on July
26-27, 2022 at ISEC Bengaluru
Programme Schedule
Organised by
Centre for Human Resource Development
&
Centre for Research in Urban Affairs
Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore
Call for Papers
Since
the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, across the world, we have been
witnessing tremendous transformations in the economy, labour, education,
health (physical and mental), environment, and technological advancement
and so on. People from various walks of life have been engaged in
unprecedented efforts to contain the virus from creating havoc on their
lives and livelihoods. There have been successes and failures along the
way in dealing with this contagion. But as we move forward, we are faced
with an existential question - "How has our life been impacted due to
the pandemic?" In this context, it is our collective responsibility to
look for a silver lining beyond the bleak picture, explore the
possibilities, and prepare ourselves for a better tomorrow.
The
COVID-19 pandemic has been an eye-opener for the research community and the
public at large as it showed the cracks in the system and, in some cases,
the ravines we have to overcome. There is a general consensus that it is
time to break away from the old and create a new system. A better tomorrow
is an ideal concept which has been pushing the world to understand the
problems and find solutions to progress in that direction. For this, it is
pertinent for us to find innovative means and ways to explore and understand
the socio-economic, health and environmental issues we are facing within
this era.
The labour
force across the globe has been affected by the pandemic unprecedentedly,
resulting in the loss of jobs and breaking away from traditional notions of
work at a scale that created chaos across the labour markets (Bartik et al,
2020; Dingel and Neiman, 2020). Soaring unemployment rates were accelerated
by large scale layoffs in the formal sector coupled with widespread panic in
the informal sector, particularly during the first and second waves of the
pandemic. The mass exodus of migrant labourers triggered by sudden lockdowns
to contain the pandemic significantly affected all aspects of their lives
and livelihoods, the true extent of which remains unfathomable. However,
post the second wave of the pandemic, we also notice a reverse migration to
the cities, which highlights a high level of adaptability, inevitability and
acceptance of the crisis. In the field of education, sudden pedagogical
shifts to remote learning coupled with the digital divide and loss of
interpersonal academic interactions have had a deep impact on students and
teachers, the effects of which need to be holistically investigated. Another
outcome of this has been the ‘new normal’ wherein the hybrid mode of working
across sectors has resulted in innovation, upgradation in skills,
cost-cutting, etc.
Thus, the
pandemic raises serious questions about the sustainability of the
neo-liberal economic model we use to manage the economy, prompting a search
for viable alternatives. The environmental and ecological sustainability,
coupled with the need to redesign urban spaces to ensure the resilience of
communities living there to face future uncertain events like this pandemic
- are all aspects requiring serious deliberations. What impact does
research, innovation and technological development play in augmenting our
efforts to deal with the uncertainty that the pandemic has unravelled in our
daily lives requires an in-depth introspection. Finally, and perhaps most
notably in the context of COVID-19, it is important for us to reconsider the
state of India’s health sector and to gauge the level of its preparedness to
face what is yet to come.
In
consideration of the aforementioned issues and to throw light upon the
tremendous possibilities they open before us to build a better tomorrow, the
conference aims to engage with various themes ranging from economy, labour,
education, health (physical and mental), environment, and technological
advancement. Issues that may be addressed by the papers include (but are not
limited to):
-
Understanding Shifts in the Labour Market during COVID-19 pandemic
-
Migrant
Labour during COVID-19 pandemic
-
Impact of
COVID-19 on the Education Sector
-
Effects
of COVID-19 on the Environment
-
Reinventing Urban Space for a post-COVID-19 world
-
COVID-19
pandemic and Economic Growth
-
COVID-19
pandemic and Social Protection measures
-
Technology and Innovation during COVID-19 times
-
Relooking
Health Sector post-COVID-19.
Venue: The Conference is planned to be
conducted in offline mode at Institute for Social and Economic Change
(ISEC), Bangalore. However, given the circumstances, it may be conducted in
a hybrid mode.
About ISEC - The Institute for Social
and Economic Change (ISEC) is an All India Institute for Interdisciplinary
Research and Training in the Social Sciences, established in 1972 by the
late Professor V K R V Rao to create a blend of field-oriented empirical
research and advances in social science theories leading to better public
policy formulation. For more information please check ISEC website http://www.isec.ac.in/
Submission Procedure: Interested
applicants wishing to present original research should send their abstract
by May 31, 2022 to [email protected]. The abstract should not exceed 250
words. Intimation regarding short listing of abstracts will be sent by June 14, 2022. The
deadline for sending full papers with a word limit between 7000-8000 words
in MS Word format is June 30, 2022.
Conference Fee: There is no conference
fee.
Accommodation and Travel Support: Selected
paper presenters (from outside Bangalore) will be provided accommodation and
travel allowance (AC Three Tier train fare).
Publication: Outstanding conference
papers will be published in an edited volume by a reputed international
publisher.
Organizing Committee:
-
Dr. Indrajit Bairagya,
Assistant Professor, Centre for Human Resources Development, ISEC.
-
Dr. S. Manasi,
Associate Professor, Centre for Research in Urban Affairs, ISEC.
-
Dr. Channamma Kambara,
Assistant Professor, Centre for Research in Urban Affairs, ISEC.
Important dates:
-
Abstract
submission: 31st May, 2022
-
Notification of short listed abstracts: 14th June, 2022
-
Submission of full papers (to: [email protected]): 30th June, 2022
-
Conference: 26-27 July, 2022
Programme Schedule
