ILPC 2019 Special Stream No. 1

‘Solidarity in Times of Crises: Labour process dynamics and socio-political orientations’ Stream Organisers: Jörg Flecker (University of Vienna, Austria), Annika Schönauer (Working Life Research Centre Vienna, FORBA, Austria), István Grajczjár (King Sigismund College, Budapest, Hungary).

This stream focuses on theory and research on changes in working life and its effects on political orientations with a special focus on issues of societal solidarity. The past decades have been characterized by massive socio-economic change: the mobility of capital has increased strongly producing a permanent threat of company relocations; structural change in the economy and financialized management have increased job insecurity; and austerity policies have questioned social protection for many. These developments have had consequences for the pressures at work and the competition between workers. At the same time authoritarian tendencies can be observed in many Western democracies and politics in several countries (e.g. Austria, France, Germany) tend to attack the regulation of the labour market and institutions of the organized labour movement.

The populist radical-right successfully capitalises on people’s anxieties by blaming scapegoats for society’s problems and offering simple political answers. However, increased job insecurity, heightened pressures at work and growing inequalities do not necessarily lead to authoritarianism, nationalism and xenophobia. Many people voice democratic and universal- solidary protest against the worsening of living and working conditions and join progressive social movements, particularly in Southern Europe. These opposing responses reflect a growing tension between nationalist and/or ethnic-based concepts of solidarity, on the one hand, and class-based and transnational ones on the other.

The conference homepage with all cfp (general and six streams) can be
found at: https://www.ilpc.org.uk/. Deadline for the submission of
abstracts is the October 26th, 2018

With kind regards of all organizers
Saskja Schindler