Ursula Huws and Simone Dahlman
June 2005 - May 2009
Sixth Research Framework Programme of the European Union
WORKS is a pan European project investigating changes in work in the knowledge based society. Composed of 17 partner research institutions, WORKS seeks to increase our understanding of the evolving division of labour within and between organisations and the related changes at the workplace in the context of European diversity and economic globalisation. The point of origin of the study is the recomposition of global value chains and the simultaneous geographic concentration and decentralisation of business functions. So to research the implications of this for the use of skills and knowledge, for flexibility and the quality of work, as well as for occupational identities, time use and the learning of individuals, a comparative European regional perspective has been adopted. The roles of social dialogue and institutional shaping in Europe will receive particular attention.
WORKS’s contribution to the state-of-the-art is the project’s combined analysis on restructuring and changes in work organisation with research of individual biographies, household dynamics and the institutional contexts of welfare systems. In order to broach a large and complex project such as this, the topic is pursued through four pillars of study: theories and concepts, quantitative analysis, qualitative research, and research on social policy, institutions and social dialogue. The project's research methodologies include a gender dimension, and gender mainstreaming is present in the project’s many components. Working Lives Research Institute is taking the lead on the ‘theories and concepts’ pillar.
To bring together research conducted in WORKS with research
conducted outside the project, two international conferences are planned.
The first WORKS conference, set for September 2006, will integrate the theoretical,
methodological and empirical knowledge obtained to date. A theme of the conference
is 'the global context', with particular emphasis on theoretical models of
globalisation and the knowledge economy, and on the development of project
indicators. The second WORKS conference will focus on 'the future of work'.
The Institute will also be taking the lead on the organisation of these conferences.
Please CLICK for 1st WORKS Newsletter, October 2005.
Work organisation Labour and Globalisation new journal flyer
Further details of the project can be found at http://www.worksproject.be/
Enquires about the research can be made by contacting Simone Dahlmann, s.dahlmann@londonmet.ac.uk
or Ursula Huws, u.huws@londonmet.ac.uk.
