Terra Firma, Terra Nova, Terra Incognita”, 11th International Conference on Organizational Discourse

Its been a busy time at conferences over the last month for Age at Work.  First we had the Gender Work and Organization Conference at Keele in June, in which we presented our paper on Weary Women in the Gender and Later Working Life Stream.  Then last week we attended the 11th International Conference on Organizational Discourse in Cardiff.  This is a conference we (Katrina and Rebecca) have frequented many times over the years, though always at the Vrije University, Amsterdam.

So how would the conference transfer to Wales?  Well there was still a boat trip but with added Dalek (see above) at the conference drinks reception at the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff Bay.  Many interesting presentations across the three days which we approached through a divide and conquer strategy to ensure we got to attend as many as possible.  There were a wide range of topics covered though definitely a strong empirical focus on identity and identity work.  Both keynote speakers – Dennis Mumby  and Cynthia Hardy were (as expected) excellent!  Dennis opened the conference and explored consumerism and branding via discourse, promoting an inclusive and extensive approach to discourse studies, a theme that we were delighted reflects our own approach here at Age at work.  Cynthia managed to incorporate Dr Who’s Tardis and achieved a round of applause for her slide transitions (that’s a first I think)!  Cynthia’s research on age will be well know to many readers of our blog and here she explored notions of temporal work.  Again, very useful for us in framing our academic papers on age at work!

Throughout the three days there were plenty of interesting papers from big names and newcomers alike, with a great social atmosphere and much opportunity for informal discussion and catching up with old friends (and future colleagues – more on that to follow).  The closing presentations by the founders of the conference provided food for thought as we left, though mainly we enjoyed Cynthia’s irreverent photo analysis of their ageing!

Looking forward to Amsterdam in 2016 (which we imagine will be scheduled for after the Euro 2016 football championships given the organisers passion for the game!)

Our presentation at the 2014 conference will appear here shortly.