Speaker: Dr Angelique Wildschut, Education and Skills Development research programme, HSRC
Date: 11 March 2014
Time: 12H15 for 12h30  – 13H30  

The realities of current globalised work contexts require certain occupational groups to have a far broader knowledge, skill and dispositional range than was the case in the past. These changes challenge our notions of what kind of skills, knowledge bases, competencies and values are considered to be the preserve of professionals. Abbot’s (1988) assertion almost three decades earlier, that the boundaries between what is considered a profession or occupation are becoming ever more porous, might be considered even more true now. This paper proposes the value of an approach employed in a South African study that aims to better understand the changing milieus and identities of artisanal occupations. Drawing on this conceptual approach, the paper argues that new debates in the world of work need to take into account lower-level occupations more robustly.

The realities of current globalised work contexts require certain occupational groups to have a far broader knowledge, skill and dispositional range than was the case in the past. These changes challenge our notions of what kind of skills, knowledge bases, competencies and values are considered to be the preserve of professionals. Abbot’s (1988) assertion almost three decades earlier, that the boundaries between what is considered a profession or occupation are becoming ever more porous, might be considered even more true now. This paper proposes the value of an approach employed in a South African study that aims to better understand the changing milieus and identities of artisanal occupations. Drawing on this conceptual approach, the paper argues that new debates in the world of work need to take into account lower-level occupations more robustly.

Please RSVP by 9 March 2014

This seminar may be attended via video conference in Pretoria, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal. Details as below.  

Cape Town : HSRC, 12th Floor, Plein Park Building (Opposite Revenue Office), Plein Street, Cape Town. Contact Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or JWitten@hsrc.ac.za

Durban :  First floor HSRC board room, 750 Francois Road, Ntuthuko Junction, Pods 5 and 6, Cato Manor, Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 or RKhan@hsrc.ac.za

Pretoria : HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za