ADAPT’s 2021 international conference intends to examine the paradoxes of the current labour market, trying to deconstruct them in order to rethink the value of work. Through new legal, economic and sociological categories that go beyond linear and conceptual juxtapositions, an attempt will be made to bring to the fore the economic and welfare dimension, which appears to be more apt to define today’s meaning of work.

Since 2009, ADAPT has committed to increasing the awareness that the fundamental principles of labour law have been challenged by major changes not only in technology and the economy, but also in demography and the environment. Hence the need to safeguard people who are in employment and to regulate economic and productive processes, in order to strike a balance between social justice and business competitiveness.

Covid-19 has led us to rethink the approach to work in economic, social and anthropological terms. Over the last three centuries, work and its value have been considered mostly in terms of economic exchange. Work regulation and industrial relations systems are also founded on this view: they draw on well defined categories – e.g. legal subordination, collective interest, social class, abstract work, and exchange value – which have long constituted the legal, institutional and economic basis for the ‘social pact’ underpinning Western economies and some dichotomies therein (e.g. public vs. private, state vs. market, local vs. global). Market exchange and its legal definition still play a major role, as they govern the labour market, ensuring employee protection and remuneration in exchange for work. Yet today it is important to understand whether work can be still seen as a mere exchange relationship between individuals who want to maximise their profit.

The economic and social changes we are called on to appreciate provide a heterogeneous picture, which appears to be a paradox if they are investigated taking into account the categories employed for the well-established social contract. Most work performed in the context of new capitalism is mutual, cooperative and relational in nature. The circular model is gradually ousting the pyramidal one, with professionalism and skills that are given increasing relevance. As capitalism is reaching its advanced stage, the value of work is prioritised, raising competition in traditional market segments and creating low-paid and un-skilled occupations that are usually held by the most vulnerable workers. These workers played a major role during the pandemic, both in economic and social terms. Moreover, workers’ motivations and expectations are relevant aspects and go beyond the economic dimension, especially in today’s labour market, which is marked by frequent transitions. The economic dimension and the regulation of the employment relationships involving different parties are still key aspects, but these relationships are not well defined. Labour law, industrial relations, economic models, traditional industrial sociology and anthropological studies are modelled around the twentieth-century concept of a ‘worker’. Arguably, those historical categories are no longer suitable to frame ongoing changes, although they are still widely used for investigating today’s impact of work. This holds even truer considering the pandemic that has affected our lives over the last year.

It is against this background that ADAPT’s 2021 international conference intends to examine the paradoxes of the current labour market, trying to deconstruct them in order to rethink the value of work. Through new legal, economic and sociological categories that go beyond linear and conceptual juxtapositions, an attempt will be made to bring to the fore the economic and welfare dimension, which appears to be more apt to define today’s meaning of work.

Therefore, ADAPT’s International School of Higher Education in Labour Law and Industrial Relations invites professors, researchers, graduate students, professionals and those who have an interest in the conference topics to provide their contribution, so as to examine the ever-changing concept of work from an international and comparative perspective.

Scholars are welcome to contribute to one or more of the following research tracks in the call for papers at: http://internationalconference.adapt.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CFP_2...

DEADLINES
• Abstracts can be submitted between 7 June and 13 August 2021
• Speakers will be notified by 17 September 2021
• Authors must confirm their participation in the conference by 15 October 2021
• The final version of papers must be sent by 10 December 2021

GUIDELINES FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Abstracts must be submitted online through the Abstract Submission Portal: http://internationalconference.adapt.it/abstract-submission-portal-2021/
which also contains detailed instructions for abstract submission.

PAPERS
The best papers presented at the conference will be selected and, depending on the topic, evaluated for publication in Diritto delle Relazioni Industriali, E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, Professionalità Studi and Revista Internacional y Comparada de Relaciones Laborales y Derecho del Empleo. Editors will also consider for publication the papers by those who are unable to attend the conference but are willing to provide their contribution just the same.

COSTS
Participation in the conference is free. Participants must bear the expenses of travel and accommodation. A limited number of grants to cover a part of the travel costs will be made available for students or doctoral students whose abstracts present original and valuable research.

FURTHER INFORMATION
For inquiries, make contact with the Speaker & Abstracts Manager by sending a mail to internationalconference2021@adapt.it

STAY CONNECTED
Updates and news about the 2021 ADAPT International Conference will be provided through the official event website internationalconference.adapt.it and
via social networks (@ADAPT_Bulletin – @adaptland)