The international research center IGK Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) and the Preparatory Committee of the 'Institute of Critical Transnational Studies' and History Department at Sogang University in Seoul/ Korea will hold a Summer Academy exploring the historical and contemporary meanings and practices of work and non-work in post-colonial and post-socialist societies.
The Summer Academy is open to doctoral students working in the field of work/labour from historical as well as other social sciences' perspectives and will take place at the Sogang University in Seoul, August 9 to 16, 2015.
Notions of work have been substantially revised in recent years. Post-colonial and post-socialist transformations - different as they are - triggered a re-evaluation as did the increasing prominence of global perspectives. In turn, the longstanding reduction of work to wage-labor and gainful employment seems to have been overcome.
1) New research on popular practices of the everyday have re-opened the debate: How do we distinguish work from non-work? How to differentiate between legitimate and unacknowledged, paid and unpaid work? Or: what constitutes the dividing line between 'hard work' and those irregular activities that blend leisure (if not idleness) with rigorous discipline and goal-orientation? Examples are ample and range from work proper ('Blue Monday', informal breaks) to all forms of sports.
2) Moreover, the global scope underscores not only the massive scale and the diverse features of migration. Rather, this view also reveals its longue durée and multifold traditions, resonating with "vagabondage" in European Early Modern Times. In a parallel move, domestic labor and performance of domestic chores emerged as work as did child-rearing or care-taking for disabled and the elderly.
3) In a third opening, 'play' is appearing less as the principal antithesis to work. Instead, the reproductive features and creative potentials of games and plays (whether in sports or in the arts or among children) seem to reconstitute this sphere into a resource for making work as a playful event. Not to forget: the realms of games promulgated by digital means and the Internet may have re-charged child-labor, not the least in societies generally considered beyond that temptation.
4) This leads to a fourth theme: Work and non-work across the life course: The issue at stake is to explore shifting activities across individual and family life courses, their labelling as work or non-work and their varying evaluations.
5) Finally, in scholarly and popular accounts work stands for productive activity and continuous engagement with a particular task. But to what extent were and are the many forms of forced labor (for instance, prison work, work camps) productive, and for whom?
Moreover, is the production of destruction and death, whether by regular soldiers or irregular fighters, just another kind of work? Is non-work of the agents of destruction, then, similar to other people?s non-work?
The Summer Academy shall focus methodologically on historical perspectives that investigate global interconnections and entanglements and/or employ methodologies of comparison. The critical reflection of general comparative notions should be part of the individual projects presented at the Summer Academy.
Moreover, the Summer Academy will also provide the venue for an in-depth discussion of methodological issues and the question of sources. The Summer Academy will be led by renowned historians and social scientists from around the world.
The language of the Summer Academy will be English. Within its framework, selected participants will present their research (30 minutes) and comment on a project of a peer (15 minutes).
Moreover it is obligatory that all participants hand in an essay on specific topics related to the Summer Academy's theme as well as answers to a set of key texts prior to the event.
Application
To participate in the Summer Academy researchers at the doctoral level need to apply with a brief outline of their current project (max. 3 pages) and a two pages essay on how their work relates to the themes of the Summer Academy as well as how they can contribute to it.
Proposed projects should assume a historical perspective and will be particularly pertinent if they take account of connections beyond the nation state and attempt to reflect upon the possibilities of connecting regional and systematic approaches. This does not exclude carefully contextualized case studies.
Travel and accommodation costs of the selected participants will be covered by the organisers of the Summer Academy.
We welcome relevant applications from all parts of the globe. Candidates from East Asia are particularly encouraged to apply.
Please use the electronic form on our website:
http://rework.hu-berlin.de/files/content/documents/SA2015_Application-F…
We can ONLY accept electronically submitted applications!
The deadline for applications is March 15, 2015.
Please send your application to:
Professor Andreas Eckert
IGK Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History
Humboldt University Berlin
rework-application@asa.hu-berlin
http://geschichte-transnational.clio-online.net/termine/id=26921