Call for Papers - “Labor in East and Southeast Europe: Institutions and Practices Between Formality and Informality"

Conference venue: Regensburg, Germany
Period: June 26-28, 2014
Deadline for submitting abstracts: January 13, 2013

The Institute for East and Southeast European Studies in Regensburg, Germany, is soliciting papers for its forthcoming conference "Labor in East and Southeast Europe: Institutions and Practices Between Formality and Informality".

Work is one of the most essential aspects of life – both from the viewpoint of individuals and the society as a whole. It is a social practice where life-courses intersect with power hierarchies, ideologies, institutional regulations, and economic forces. The impact of formal and informal institutions on the functioning of labour markets is well documented and varies considerably across time and space.

East and Southeast Europe is characterized by frequent political and economic transformations that resulted, among other things, in the fragility of institutions and a high degree of informality. These phenomena are also relevant for the build-up of trust and social capital that in turn are among the key factors for the understanding of labour relations and labour market outcomes. Hence, labour is a central realm in which the shifting boundaries between the formal and the informal, between the official and unofficial take effect.

The conference welcomes scholars both from humanities and social sciences. Contributions should concentrate on the time span from the 19th century to the present. Specific topics include, but are not confined to the following:

Keynote speakers: Donald Filtzer (University of East London), Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna, IZA Bonn and DIW Berlin)

Submissions to AnnualConference@ios-regensburg.de should include an abstract (max. 300 words) and a CV including your institutional affiliation and contact details either in MS-Word format (*.doc or *.docx) or as a pdf.

The IOS will cover the travel and accommodation costs of presenters. Accepted participants will be notified by the end of January 2014.
Conveners: Ksenia Gatskova, Stefano Petrungaro

Institute for East and Southeast European Studies
e-mail: AnnualConference@ios-regensburg.de