For three days in September, Fafo's territory in Borggata was bustling with an international gathering of around 100 labour market researchers. The occasion was two conferences that were held in parallel and under the same roof – IREC and IWPLMS (see the last section).
A group of Fafo researchers on the hosting committee had polished the programme and practical details, including Kristine Nergaard.
"The fact that so many international researchers are visiting Norway is an opportunity to learn about developments in different countries and topics in labour market research that are central to us at Fafo," she emphasises.
Sondre Thorbjørnsen was also part of the organizing committee. He describes the three days as hectic and educational:
"It's a great opportunity to be able to listen to and be inspired by talented people. For us younger researchers, it is also very valuable to be able to present our own work and challenge others' questions and feedback."
Trend and medicine
The double conference took place from 16 to 18 September. and was titled "Confronting Inequality", emphasizing the role of working life in social and economic inequality; what contributes to making this inequality greater and what institutional measures can come as a response.
In terms of research, the core of the conferences revolved around scientific papers. These were presented and debated during the conferences.
“There were several papers about the well-known measures to counteract inequality – such as collective agreements, trade unions and measures to ensure a safe working life," says Nergaard.
"While other papers concentrated on more new trends such as platform work, artificial intelligence and the distinction between being an employee and a contractor – trends that could lead to increased inequality if it slips out” she continues.
Well-established conferences
The two conferences, which this time were held at the same time and under the same roof, have the abbreviations IWPLMS and IREC:
- Established in 1979, the International Working Party on Labour Market Segmentation (IWPLMS) seeks to understand the processes that shape inequality and segmentation in labour markets, through an interdisciplinary, dynamic and comparative institutional theoretical perspective. Read more at the University of Manchester.
- IREC (Industrial Relations in Europe Conference) was established in 1992 as a network of researchers on industrial relations in Europe. Fafo last hosted this conference in 2010.
The conferences have defined the following questions as central:
- Inequality is on the rise. What are the factors driving these inequalities and the segmentation of labour markets? How can these trends be counteracted and what role can social partners and the state play in this process?
- Can new groups of workers on the margins of the labour market benefit from existing labour market institutions, or must we instead look for alternative approaches to address the growing dualization of the labour market?
During the three days, the following people held so-called keynotes: Maarten Keune (University of Amsterdam), Jill Rubery (The University of Manchester), Richard Hyman (London School of Economics and Political Science), Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University), Christian Lyhne Ibsen (University of Copenhagen), Agnieszka Piasna (European Trade Union Institute) and Jon Erik Dølvik (Fafo).
For the full program with more details, see the conference page.
The English version has been computer-translated from the Norwegian original.
