Social boundaries of work. The varieties of informal work in contemporary societies

The 2nd Social boundaries of work conference will take place at the University of Zielona Gora between 12-13 November 2015.

The conference is a continuation of a cycle of international conferences Social boundaries of work organized by The Sociology of Work Section of Polish Sociological Association. The first concerned the transformation of employment in the twenty-first century capitalism. It took place in Wroclaw in November 2014 (https://sites.google.com/site/boundariesofwork2014).

The aim of the conference series is to systematically explore the meanings of work in the process of economic and cultural changes associated with globalization, Europeanization and the expansion of neoliberal variant of the capitalist economy. Discussion during the second edition of the conference will focus on the problems of work outside of formal employment in modern societies. We would like to take into account undeclared work, work performed free of charge (reproductive work, voluntary work), as well as working in atypical forms of employment, such as civil contracts in Poland or other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Conference presentations should address both theoretical and practical topics focused on informal work.

Paper proposals are invited to two thematic panels:

1. During the panel Work and employment in modern societies: theoretical challenges the following problems will be discussed:

• The definition and measurement of informal forms of work,
• Social and individual consequences of informal forms of work,
• Conditions and quality of informal work,
• Segmentation of the labour market and the supply of workers to informal labour market (low-skilled workers, women, the elderly),
• Areas and forms of informal work: unpaid care work, work in the informal sector, voluntary and unpaid work in the new and old sectors of the economy, internships and work within the (non) standard forms of employment.

2. During panel on social practice, Precarisation and flexibility of employment: the challenges of social practice the following issues would be taken into account:

• Trade unions attitudes and strategies to address informal work;
• Employers' organizations and the work of outside employment to informal work;
• Social policy and the problems of informal work.

Languages of the conference: Polish and English

Deadline for submitting conference abstracts (250-500 words) to: socialboundariesofwork@gmail.com: 15 June 2015

Call for papers (Download)