You are cordially invited to join the inaugural lecture by adjunct professor Neil Coe. Neil M. Coe joines Copenhagen Business School as Adjunct Professor in January 2023 and is affiliated to the Centre for Business and Development Studies (CBDS) at the Department of Management Society and Communication (MSC).

Since Neil Coe is based in Australia, he will present online. Therefore, it is also possible to join the Inaugural Lecture online via Microsoft Teams in case your are not able to join our colleagues at Dalgas Have in person.

Program:

9.00-9.10 Introduction by Dorte Salskov-Iversen | Head of Department of Management Society and Communication 

9.10-9.45 Lecture by Adjunct Professor Neil Coe

9.45-10.00 Q&A

Abstract

Three conceptual challenges in global production research

Neil M. Coe, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney

Research into global production is now a mature, multi-stranded and interdisciplinary field. That being said, conceptual challenges remain as the global economy continues to change apace, and is buffeted by geopolitical tensions, the complex legacies of the pandemic and the ever-growing challenges of climate change. In this presentation, I draw upon my recent work to explore three sets of pressing questions, with case study examples from Asia being used to briefly illustrate each theme. First, debates concerning different modes of state capitalism highlight the varied strategic and geopolitical drivers of global production network activities, and the hybrid state-firm forms that underpin them. This productively extends the assumption of profit-seeking private sector actors that still prevails in many global production approaches. Second, for some commentators, platform capitalism represents a new and distinctive mode of economic organization. I argue, however, that the platform and global production network literatures can be used synergistically to better understand the distinctive ways in which platforms are transforming certain industries. Third, I will explore whether the concept of the labour regime holds promise for theorising the intersecting network and territorial forces that shape labour conditions, experiences and agency potential in global production. I will conclude by highlighting some of the research challenges associated with the intersections of labour, global production and climate change.

Bio

Neil M. Coe joined Copenhagen Business School as Adjunct Professor in January 2023 and is affiliated to the Centre for Business and Development Studies (CBDS) at the Department of Management Society and Communication (MSC). Neil is Professor of Economic Geography and Head of the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. His research interests are in the areas of global production networks, regional economic development, and labour geographies. These concerns have been explored through research into computer services, temporary staffing and logistics in the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific, the film and television industry in the UK and Canada, and retailing in the UK, East Asia and Eastern Europe. More recent work has explored the development of labour regimes across Asia, and the emergence of platform ecosystems in China. His current research is focusing on the intersections of global production, labour and environment as a critical nexus as we strive to achieve socially and environmentally sustainable production systems during a period of necessary energy transition. He recently authored the Advanced Introduction to Global Production Networks (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2021) and coedited Labour Regimes and Global Production (Agenda, Newcastle, 2022). He has just stepped down after nine years as an editor of the Journal of Economic Geography.