ORGANIZING ALTERNATIVES IN POST-CAPITALIST SOCIETIES: The commencement of global financial crisis in 2008 signaled significant changes in the way people have questioned their place in society. There have been spontaneous attempts to organize evolving modes of relating, working and living in, what has been termed, post-capitalist society. The rise of social movements and the uncertain conditions due to precarious employment and unemployment have resulted in a rise of new forms of organizing (and the new socio-economic conditions within which these forms are becoming embedded).
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & PRECARIOUS CONDITIONS: Both unemployment and unstable employment have usually been perceived as an ‘illness’ that needs to be overcome both personally and socially. And yet, in developed labour markets, work patterns are becoming increasingly fragmented, pushing employment vulnerability and its organizational and social consequences to higher levels.
CREATIVITY, RESILIENCE & RESISTANCE: The landscape of work, employment and organization is rapidly changing across the world. As the recent events in Southern Europe have indicated, employment vulnerability can lead to a wide range of negative individual, social and organizational consequences. At the same time, newly formed groups of un(der)employed seem to be responding in novel ways to the vulnerability of employment; developing new organizing possibilities starting from global protest movements to local community support arrangements.
(RE)CONSTRUCTING THE COMMONS: The economic crisis has posed new challenges for the democratic system and its institutions in many European countries. Citizens are demanding participation and framing new ways of relating amongst themselves, as well as creating alternatives to a system perceived to be aligned against any form of communal organization. This situation runs in parallel with a general disenchantment with the makings of a bankrupt democratic system. These stories have important implications in the changing landscape for individuals, organizations, and for the struggles they engage with in finding alternatives.
WORK, IDENTITY AND THE SELF: The way people are defining their identity at work needs to be understood within the changing relation between the employees and employers. Issues around the psychological contract, identity and precariousness as well as the projection into wider significations on the self will be explored in this area.
