WORK2015 – New Meanings of Work: Work Practices and Quality of Work

The second International Interdisciplinary Conference on Research on Work, "WORK2015 – New Meanings of Work" will be organized in Turku, Finland between August 19-21, 2015.

The theme for the Conference, New Meanings of Work seeks its justification not only from the changes in the work itself but from the global economic crisis and ongoing turbulence at the global, regional and national levels that call for rigorous explorations and new analyses. The on-going economic and societal changes are connected to forms of work and to modes of working and ways of living that are yet to be thoroughly mapped and explored.

The WORK2015 Conference welcomes papers and presentations exploring, contouring, describing and analyzing the world of work and new meanings of work. In addition to the ongoing global economic crisis and its effects, longer term processes have shifted the contours and boundaries of work and working in ways which demand new understandings, both theoretically and empirically. These changes include, but are by no means limited to:

• new forms of work; self-employment, entrepreneurship; precarious employment
• shifts in work and working life patterns; unemployment; education and work
• expansion of wagelessness; changing labour markets and policies; organizing work
• global economy and work; transformations in the regulation of labour and employment
• reconfiguring of working time; temporality of work; health and wellbeing at work
• place of theory in working life research;
• work and welfare society; legal aspects of work and employment

The several questions outlined above concern the changing role and place of work and labour in contemporary socio-economic formations. These questions include those relating to the very definition of work as well as its changing meanings.

It is against this background that this conference seeks to explore New Meanings of Work. It does so from a variety of perspectives and solid disciplinary approaches, including approaches associated with critical labour studies, new economic sociology, feminist theory, post-colonial studies, social and cultural theory, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, philosophy, critical health studies and gender studies.

The Conference will host over 20 different streams on work. You are invited to submit the abstract to any of these streams.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 December 2014

More information about the conference

Work Practices and Quality of Work Stream

Chair: Dr Tommy Isidorsson, Associate Professor at University of Gothenburg, Theme 3 leader of ChangingEmployment project

Strive for restructuring and relocation, flexibilization and individualization all put pressure to work quality reflected in many ways at the labour markets and in the work itself. Several work practices, such as teamwork, is often seen as empowering way to organize work. Work practices also reflect the developing forms of control over work. Does teamwork result higher employee participation and autonomy?

The stream especially welcomes papers that will relate to the themes described above, e.g. analyzing work practices, interpersonal relations and the impact of work practices to quality of work. If you wish to propose one session within the stream, that is, 3-4 papers tied together with specific focus or theme, the organizers will try to accommodate them into the programme.