Call for abstracts: Critical Perspectives on Precarious and Informal Work 

 The two-day symposium brings together scholars across different disciplines studying precarious and informal work in the Nordics and beyond. The world of work is being transformed by globalisation, deregulation, digitalisation, robotization, and demographic changes due to population ageing and migration. In addition, frequent shocks such as financial crises, the pandemic, and the current energy crisis impact workers across the Nordics and beyond. The erosion of secure employment is a phenomenon that transcends nation-state borders. We are also witnessing the increase of precarious work especially in, but not limited to, sectors like cleaning, construction, and agriculture and in new modes of organising work such as the platform economy.

Especially the Nordic social model, characterized by high employment and taxes, low wage and income equality, and comprehensive welfare regimes, has relied on the prevalence of formal employment at reasonable pay. The symposium seeks to tackle the following questions, but not limited to these: How do welfare states respond to these transformations? What are the effects of the erosion of secure employment on individual workers and communities? In which ways are different labour sectors, labour relations, and labour processes changing? How do intersecting inequalities based on gender, ‘race’, ethnicity, class, migrancy, and so forth structure the everyday of work? In which novel ways do relations of production and social reproduction intermingle in the contemporary transformations of work? Do the concepts of precarious and informal work capture the changing world of work or should these be re-thought?

We encourage paper proposals coming from a range of disciplines and welcome submissions from scholars representing various approaches, backgrounds, and scholarly career stages.

Our confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Emeritus Nancy Folbre (University of Massachusetts Armherst, USA) presenting via Zoom, Professor Emeritus Karl Ove Moene (University of Oslo, Norway) and Professor Janine Leschke (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark). For a preliminary programme of the conference please check PrecaNord website.

The symposium is on site and a conference fee of 50 euros will cover lunch and refreshments.