II The varieties of informal work in contemporary societies

12-13 November 2015, Zielona Góra, POLAND

Organisers:

Sociology of Work Section of the Polish Sociological Association

The Institute of Sociology, University of Zielona Góra

in cooperation with:

The Scientific Circle of the Sociology Students, University of Zielona Góra

Zielona Góra Department of the Polish Sociological Association

We would like to invite you to participate in an international conference “Social boundaries of work. The varieties of informal work in contemporary societies”, which will take place in  the Institute of Sociology of the University of Zielona Góra on 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.

            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. Conference presentations should address both theoretical and practical topics focused on informal work .

The objectives of the conference are:

• to redefine the category of informal work, which is not limited to the legal classification of work activities (into the illegal and legal employment), but which will also take into account the variety of the intermediate forms of work beyond a standard employment contracts  (volunteering, internship, work under civil law contracts) which often deprives workers of their labour and social rights;
• to reflect and discuss the traditional (eg. reproductive work) and new (unpaid internships) dimensions of informal work under the conditions defined by the processes of expansion of new forms of employment that go beyond the traditional employment relationship;
• to identify the challenges for social policies and practices related to increasing employment destandarization in contemporary societies.

            We invite Authors to submit paper proposals for two thematic panels.

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

• Reproductive Work / Unpaid care work;
• Working in a gray zone / Black labor market;
• Volunteering and unpaid work in the new and old sectors of the economy;
•  Internships and work within the framework of non-standard forms of employment.

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

• Trade unions and employers’ organizations to informal work;
• Employers’ organizations and the work of outside employment to informal work;
• Social policy and the problems of informal work.