FEKIS 2024 Renewal and Democracy in a Disruptive World

FEKIS 2024 Renewal and Democracy in a Disruptive World

• 22–24 October 2024
• Karlstad University
• Sign up (coming soon)
• Call for paper

Business Administration plays an important role in the development toward a more sustainable society due to its impact on the many crucial societal challenges we are facing at the moment, such as climate change, polarisation, social inequalities, digitalisation, and the introduction of AI. 

At this conference, we want to discuss issues that are relevant to Business Administration research, education, and cooperation.

We expect Business Administration research and education to contribute to more sustainable communities and systems, yet we rarely discuss the overall approach of the discipline of Business Administration regarding the serious challenges our society is faced with, and how we can reinforce and further develop democratic processes. The relevance of Business Administration research and education also comes with big responsibilities, not least since the discipline educates future generations who will influence the development of society.

Reports show that climate change is already causing vast and increasingly irreversible damage to both nature and human systems (refer to, for example, IPCC). The decisions we make throughout this decade will have consequences for generations – for hundreds of years if not longer. The seriousness of these challenges and the urgent need to handle them requires action, disruption, and renewal in social and industrial systems.

At the same time, global social problems are also increasing, with conflicts, polarisation, the decline of democracy, and more frequent and severe clashes between groups and individuals. Digitalisation is often offered as a solution to climate change and other societal challenges, and now the rapid development of AI makes this topic even more relevant. At the same time, digitalisation comes with its own set of challenges, including ethical issues, ideological conundrums, and democratic problems.

The overall theme of FEKIS 2024 aims to broaden the conversations about what role Business Administration higher education and research play in our time. How can we support, keep up with, and stay relevant in a society faced with such huge and complex challenges? How can we promote democratic values and critical thinking in an age characterised by rapid and transformative change?

A few suggestions for topics to discuss at the conference:

• How can the discipline of Business Administration develop in order to better deal with climate change, polarisation and social inequalities? Do our theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological approaches need development?
• How can we cooperate with the wider community to create a balance between market mechanisms and other principles for organising society, such as civil society and the democratic system?
• How are themes such as renewal, democracy, and disruption integrated into new Business Administration degree programmes and courses? What can we improve further?
• How can Business Administration promote an approach to systems that addresses societal challenges and enables disruption? How can our courses and degree programmes guide students to adopt such an approach to systems and implement it in practice?
• How can we together, across the discipline, take on the societal challenges we are currently facing? How can we further reinforce increased cooperation between our higher education institutions (with research, courses, degree programmes, and teaching methods)?
• How can the education and research efforts within the discipline of Business Administration benefit from the rapid development in digitalisation, AI, and automation without losing track of democratic, ethical and sustainability aspects?

Conference times

• October 22 - 17:00 reception
• October 23 conference starts 09:00 – ends 17:00. 18.30 Conference dinner.
• October 24 conference starts 09:30 – ends 16.00

Contact

• fekis2024@kau.se