Labor migration, organizing and changes of Norwegian work and employment relations

Abstract

Work and employment relations in western capitalism have been under severe change the last 2-3 decades. National class compromises build up in the period of organized capitalism have to a large extent been substituted by non-standard forms of employment and marketization of all forms of production. These changes have also arrived in the Norwegian working life. Subcontracting and temporary work has become the new normality, across sectors and branches. At the same time labor migration has increased. The number of labor migrants exploded after the inclusion of Eastern European countries in the EU in 2004 and 2007 and expanded even more after the financial crisis of 2008.

This internationalization of the labor market fuels the process of destandardization, extends the growth of precarious work and puts forward extraordinary challenges for the unions and collective organizing of labor interest. The situation asks for research and reflection from different parts of social sciences. In this workshop we shall present results and perspectives partly from the sociology of work and labor and partly from sociology of migration.

We hope students and other scholars find it interesting to take part in the discussion.

Program

Suggested readings:

Jon Horgen Friberg (2016):

• Arbeidsmigrasjon. Hva vet vi om konsekvensene for norsk arbeidsliv, samfunn og økonomi? Fafo-rapport 2016:02.

Jon Horgen Friberg og Hedda Haakestad (2015): 

• Arbeidsmigrasjon, makt og styringsideologier: Norsk byggenæring i en brytningstid. Søkelys på arbeidslivet, nr 3 2015, årgang 32, s. 182-205

Welcome to all.