Call for Papers : Work
Our fourth volume on “work” will be published in October 2021 from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this volume, we aim to address the theme with its different dimensions, including the process of significant change and transformation in work during pandemics.
We want to approach the concepts of work/labor/occupation through articles in a framework of topics including the right to work/the right not to work; flexible work; remote work; domestic labor; precarious work; informal work; employment; transformation/change of the workforce; unchanging aspects of work; the future and the meaning of work. We believe that theoretical and field-based articles on the meaning and changing definitions of work will contribute to the debates in this area. Work-life, its legal and institutional regulations, and its consequences can be considered within a variety of dimensions. The prevalence and consequences of unregulated informal work in Turkey can also be discussed in different examples.
In this regard, we welcome your article submissions that will thoroughly analyze the experiences and the intersectionalities of individuals, classes, groups, and societies upon working/not-working/ inability to work, including, but not limited to, the following themes and questions.
What are the various meanings of work? Is it the act of work itself? Is it the surplus value that results from work? Is it the price determined by the market? What are the different meanings given to work at different periods? What is the meaning given to work today?
What are the values attributed to work? What can be said about the changes in these values? Is it possible to talk about differences in the understanding of work among different cultures? How can work ethics be handled from a historical and sociological perspective? What can we say about work when we think through modernization/state/capitalism in work ethics?
Right to work? Is it a duty? Is it a necessity? Is it a means of emancipation or an obstacle to our emancipation? What is its relation to the right of laziness?
Who is the worker/employee? What defines employee and non-employee? Who is working? Who is not working? Who is unable to work? Who should not work? Informal work? Freelance work? Being self-employed? Illegal employment? Child labor, including its worst cases? Domestic labor? Care labor? Female labor? The labor of the volunteers? What is emotional labor? How is it experienced?
Unemployment? How is unemployment measured? Young, urbanized, educated unemployed and female unemployment? The relation between temporary jobs and unemployment? Work experiences of new graduates? Experiences of “being inexperienced”?
The relationship between work and income? The working poor? What could be the contribution of basic income studies to the literature?
Legally regulated and unregulated work? How should new forms of work be organized in terms of security? How should new forms of work be organized in terms of assurance? What can be said about the re-organization of work and the labor market in emergency conditions?
How is the work related to creation and self-actualization? Is academic, scientific and artistic production a work? When are the academic and creative production mere outputs specified in job descriptions? When do these manifest employees’ endeavors? Are the scientists, academics, and artists an employee? What is the relationship of work with creation? Can the prosumer (producer-consumer) concept contribute to understanding the present and future of work?
What can be said about the social functions of work? What is the impact of work on social identities? What about occupations forming the social identity?
What is the relation of work with career, occupation, and job? Relationships and differentiations; how many formally educated individuals are exercising/can exercise /want to exercise their occupations? What is the impact of this on production, creativity, quality of work-life, and quality of life? What does work bring, what does it take? Work-life, physical and psychological health, well-being, quality of life?
What is the relation of work with aging and retirement? For whom would the adaptation to aging and retirement be easy? For whom would it be challenging? Is the meaning and quality of life effective in this process? How is the transfer of “valuable knowledge” from the aging workforce ensured?
How are the work and labor reflected in art? How are the different reflections of labor manifested, particularly in cinema and in other fields of art?
What is the relation between work and citizenship? How does migrant labor fit into this picture? What are the different forms of migrant labor? What are the effects and consequences of migrating for work, including seasonal/temporary agricultural migration?
What are the effects of work regulation through organizations/institutions? Formal/informal structure of work and its organization in the corporate structures? Is it commitment/loyalty to the organization/institution? Work engagement? Passion for work and occupation?
How can the relation between the individuals and work be defined? Manager-employee relations? Manager- manager relations? The relationship between the society’s cultures and organizational culture? What are discriminatory practices in business life based on age, gender, other demographic characteristics, and disadvantages? How is nepotism defined?
Implications of the relations between the organization of workers, labor unions, and the organization of work? The power of organized labor in the organization of work and the loneliness of unorganized labor?
What can be expected for the transformation and future of work? In the light of technological developments, how is the transformation of labor and worker shaped in different fields? What are the new/old forms of work in the creative industries, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and platform economies?
Who are green, gray, gold, and red collars? Digital nomads? What are the matches and mismatches of skills for future works? What are the designs of work-life for the future?
What can be said about the temporal and spatial change of work? What is flexible/remote work? What are working hours and time usage? How do they transform the work? What is the impact of the pandemic on this change? What can be said about the different aspects of labor in the pandemic? Moreover, which sectors/occupations are not affected by these changes? How these changes affect and the working conditions of the most vulnerable groups in manufacturing and agriculture?
Deadline for article submission: July 15, 2021
Issue editors: İdil Işık, Kübra Doğan-Yenisey, Pınar Uyan-Semerci
