Social boundaries of work. Changes in the sphere of work in the 21st century capitalism
The Sociology of Work Section of the Polish Sociological Association and the Institute of Sociology, University of Wrocław in cooperation with the Students' Circle for Social Initiatives, University of Wroclaw and the Wroclaw Branch of the Polish Sociological Association invite paper proposals for the international conference to be held in Wroclaw between November 14-15, 2014.
The goal of the conference is to discuss the changing meaning of human work in the context of economic, institutional and cultural transformations in the sphere of employment in the late capitalist societies. The contemporary debates on flexible labour market and inclusion and exclusion in the sphere of employment in Europe relatively rarely address in a critical manner the social, economic and political mechanisms of the marketisation and commodification of work. The latter mechanisms translate into the social constructions of the differences between work and employment, between standard and non-standard employment, between employment and unemployment and between formality and informality. The ways of investing work with particular meanings by various social actors (employees, employers, political elites, trade unions, labour administration, incl. career counsellors etc.) influence, in turn, the range of social and civic rights enjoyed by the various categories of employees. On the one hand, the new forms of employment and increasingly flexible labour market require new theoretical approaches to understand better the long-term outcomes of ongoing transformations. On the other hand, in order to grasp these transformations and formulate more accurate policy recommendations, it is necessary to move beyond the reductionist identification of work with employment and labour market.
Paper proposals should be sent before 31 March 2014 to: konferencjapraca.wroclaw2014@gmail.com.
More information available at the conference website: http://www.socialboundariesofwork.pl
Conference call (Download)