Perspectives from Latin America

Dasten Julián Vejar from the Universidad Austral de Chile visited the CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy last week. He gave a lecture about “Intersectionality, Precarity and Labour in the Global South: Perspectives from Latin America” and held a workshop on international networking as well as planning future research and teaching cooperation in universities of the Global South.

At the beginning of his stay in Bremen, Dasten Julián Vejar explained the intersectional approach, which has become relevant to research in different fields of the social sciences (anthropology, economics, sociology, etc.). Its importance in work studies has been highlighted mainly from studies linked to the precariousness of work and employment. These investigations have allowed a sociohistorical and political understanding of work, as well as of the societies of the Global South. In his presentation he analyzed some of these research experiences, based on the results of an investigation carried out in Chile (2016 - 2022) and another aimed at a UN Report on "poor work" in Latin America.

Furthermore, the workshop “Building networks and planning future research and teaching cooperation in universities of the Global South in South-North/North-South/South-South directions” enabled CRC and other interested researchers from the University of Bremen at an early stage of their career to plan collaborations in the fields of research and teaching for the purpose of perpetuating their research focus. Dasten Julián Vejar contributed his own experience of knowledge transfer from Germany as well as the extensive South-North/North-South/South-South collaborations that have built on it. The participants reviewed a set of challenges that the global scenario presents in its institutional and academic dimension for the development of cooperation, research and scientific exchange strategies.

Dasten Julián Vejar is a Ph.D. Sociologist at the Universidad Austral de Chile. His research interests focus on questions of precarity and precariousness of working and living conditions, intersectionality and emancipatory approaches from a perspective of the Global South. Among others, he is specialized in indigenous questions, the conditions in the agricultural and forestry sectors in Chile and the impact of transnational investments.

Publications:

Challenging the three faces of extractivism: the Mapuche struggleand the forestry industry in Chile (2023, with S. Schmalz et al, Globalizations 20(3): 365-383).

Sociedad precaria. Rumores, latidos, manifestaciones y lugares (2022, as co-editor); Sociedades precarias: estudios contemporáneos de la precariedad del trabajo (ibid.: 13-37).

Unions Opposing Labor Precarity in Chile. Union Leaders’ Perceptions and Representations of Collective Action, (2018, Latin American Perspectives 45(1): 63-76).

Precariedad laboral en América Latina: contribuciones a un modela para armar (Revista Colombiana de Sociología 2017 Vol 40 (2): 27-46).

Labor precarity and unionism in Chile: new directions and strategies of workers in a context of labor precarity (1975-2010) (Jena, 2015).

Contact:
Dr. Heiner Fechner
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-57070
E-Mail: hfechner@uni-bremen.de

Irene Dingeldey and Ulrich Mückenberger edited the latest issue of the International Labour Review, which focuses on the concept of legal segmentation that was developed in the CRC 1342.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published the Special Issue Overcoming legal segmentation: Extending legal rules to all workers? in its journal International Labour Review. The volume was edited by Irene Dingeldey and Ulrich Mückenberger ( project A03) and features results from the first funding period of the CRC 1342 on the concept of legal segmentation (i.e. labour market segmentations that stem from state law) and related quantitative results. The Special Issue is supplemented by regional studies by recognised experts on South Asia, Latin America and Southern Africa, which essentially confirm the argument that law plays a segmenting role, which has only been moderated in recent decades by equalising normative elements. In this volume, the ILO also includes the critical view that its own norm-setting practice is characterised by legal segmentation and has only recently given more space to universalising regulation.

The ILO's International Labour Review is published in English, Spanish and French, which means that the results of project A03 enter into a global discourse among academics, practitioners and political decision-makers involved in social policy.

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Ulrich Mückenberger & Irene Dingeldey (2022): Overcoming legal segmentation: Extending legal rules to all workers?, International Labour Review (Special Issue), Volume 161 (4). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1564913x/2022/161/4

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Irene Dingeldey
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Institute Labour and Economy
Wiener Straße 9 / Ecke Celsiusstraße
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-61710
E-Mail: dingeldey@uni-bremen.de

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mückenberger
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Faculty of Law
Universitätsallee, GW1
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-66218
E-Mail: mueckenb@uni-bremen.de

CRC member Heiner Fechner is one of 27 "national rapporteurs" who will provide analyses on the historical roots of modern slavery for the International Academy of Comparative Law. Fechner will write the national report for Germany.

Heiner Fechner, who is a postdoctoral researcher in the CRC project A03 "Worlds of Labour", has been appointed "National Rapporteur" on the topic of modern slavery. Fechner is to prepare the national report for Germany for the International Academy for Comparative Law (IACL).

According to estimates by the ILO and the Walk Free Foundation (2017), around 40 million people worldwide are currently victims of modern slavery, which also includes forced labour including forced prostitution and forced marriages - more than during the peak of the colonial slave economy in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The appointment by the IACL's "General Rapporteur" on modern slavery, Prof. Dr. Adelle Blackett (Uni McGill, Montreal), was prompted by Fechner's research on colonial labour law and exclusion ("legal segmentation") within the CRC 1342.

Exclusionary and coercive elements of German colonial labour law, including its reception and further development by the Nazi regime, will also be a focus of the study to be presented at the IACL Congress in Paraguay in autumn 2022. A comparison of the development of German law with 26 other states is on the agenda for that event.

The analysis of the historical roots of modern slavery is to be made fruitful for a critical discussion of the current legal situation and reform proposals. The publication of the analyses and proposals is expected in 2023.

Contact:
Dr. Heiner Fechner
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-57070
E-Mail: hfechner@uni-bremen.de

In "Worlds of Labour", the social scientist focuses on the refinement of indicators and their integration into the Global Welfare State Information System (WeSIS).

Dear Andrea, you have been with us for a few weeks now. nevertheless welcome to CRC 1342! You started at a difficult time, when most of the team has to work from home ...

Switching to a new team at a time when most people work from home is indeed a challenge in terms of communication. The team of project A03 welcomed me warmly and appreciatively and paved a straight path for me into the team and the work through regular exchange and a lot of patience.

Can you briefly tell us about your professional path so far?

My professional path is winding and characterised by many experiences, insights and cooperation with many colleagues. In addition to my Master's degree in Sociology, Business Administration and English at the University of Potsdam, I worked early on at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) in the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) department with Elke Holst on the topic of women in the labour market. After graduating, I moved to DIW to work with Jürgen Schupp and Martin Kohli on the connections and interactions between inheritance and wealth distribution.I then went to Bremen to the Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS, now BIGSSS), where I completed the graduate programme with great colleagues - such as Till Kathmann, Susanne Strauß and Can Aybek.

What happened next?

After only a short time in Bremen, I became a research assistant in Karin Gottschall's department Gender Inequalities in the Welfare State at the Zentrum für Sozialpolitik (ZES, now SOCIUM). During this time I worked with outstanding colleagues such as Simone Hasler, Karin Gottschall, Simone Scherger and Anna Hokema on topics such as vertical segregation, family policies, gender inequality and gainful employment. I was involved in various projects, including "InGRID - Inclusive Growth Research Infrastructure Diffusion (EU/FP 7)" with Olaf Groh-Samberg, the project "What comes after the family wage? Problems and possibilities of regulating income risks for normal workers" with Irene Dingeldey and in the project "Migration and transnational payments from a gender perspective" with Elke Holst and Mechthild Schrooten. It was also exciting to work with colleagues like Heidi Gottfried, Karen A. Shire and Sylvia Walby in the international network "Globalisation, Gender, and Work Transformation (GLOW)".

Due to care work and the restrictions of the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, I went into organisational and political practice in the Central Commission for Women's Issues (ZKFF) at the University of Bremen in 2018. As a scientific officer, I advised and supported the ZKFF in all fields of action in the performance of its legal duties. Intermittently, I transitioned into academia for short periods of time, such as in 2019 in Sonja Drobnič's Department of Life Course, Life Course Policies and Social Integration at SOCIUM. Since 2019, I have been regularly teaching quantitative and qualitative methods in the Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen. Since 15.01.2021, I have taken a sabbatical leave from my position as an officer of the ZKFF and since then I have joined the project "Worlds of Labour".

Why were you interested in working in the CRC 1342?

I am interested in the CRC because it goes beyond the usual social policy research at institutions. On the one hand, because global development dynamics of public social policy are studied over long periods of time, and on the other hand, because the expertise of many people from different disciplines, cultures and countries is bundled here over several years. There is an open-minded atmosphere and the variety of perspectives creates a great, stimulating working atmosphere.

You have been part of project A03 for a few weeks now. What exactly are you working on?

I am working on the refinement of indicators based on normative and legal standards of employment relationships. Part of this work is to integrate the indicators developed into the WeSIS database. In addition, I advise the team on methodological issues and deal with the relationship between legal regulations on equality and gender-specific segmentation in the labour market.

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Project A03: Worlds of Labour. Normative Standards of Employment Relationships as National and Global Patterns of Welfare State Development

Contact:
Andrea Schäfer
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-57095
E-Mail: andrea.schaefer@uni-bremen.de

How to abolish child labour internationally

Jenny Hahs and Fabian Besche offer a simulation game for children aged 10 - 12 years on 31.03.2020 from 10 - 12 o'clock and 14 - 16 o'clock in the context of the Children's University 2020 hosted by the University of Bremen. The simulation game focuses on child labour and the right for education.

The children will get an insight into today's forms of child labour, its distribution and its history in interplay and tension with the introduction of compulsory schooling and the right for education. They form teams with other participants and become representatives of their country, advocating for their country's interests in a simulation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference on the abolition of child labour. In this way they also get a first practical insight into how international politics is made.

There are still a few free places and tickets can be booked on the website of the Children's University of Bremen.

Contact:
Fabian Besche
Jenny Hahs

CRC member Ulrich Mückenberger paid tribute to the scholar of law Éliane Vogel-Polsky at a memorial service in Brussels. Mückenberger was invited as a representative of European labour law.

Ulrich Mückenberger spoke in Brussels on 19 February 2020 at the memorial service for the great European law scholar Éliane Vogel-Polsky. Born in 1926 and died in 2015, Vogel-Polsky was one of the great figures in European labour law. She was a professor, lawyer, human rights campaigner, feminist and passionate European. Ulrich Mückenberger worked with her on and published, among other things, the document "Manifesto Social Europe" (2001).

In her honour, the Université Libre de Bruxelles organised a colloquium with friends and colleagues of Éliane Vogel-Polsky. Mückenberger was invited as a representative of European labour law.

More about the event on the website of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mückenberger
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Faculty of Law
Universitätsallee, GW1
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-66218
E-Mail: mueckenb@uni-bremen.de

With the support of CRC 1342, Irene Dingeldey and Master students travelled to Berlin for three days. They participated in workshops with the ILO and the German Foreign Office.

Together with students from the course "Collective and Indivdiual Labour Rights" from the Master's programme in Social Policy, CRC member Irene Dingeldey travelled to the Federal Foreign Office and the ILO branch in Berlin. They participated in workshops from 15-17 January.

The main focus was on the exchange between practitioners and academics, the application of theory and empirical findings to practice, and the demonstration of the process of norm-setting and implementation using the example of Germany.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Irene Dingeldey
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Institute Labour and Economy
Wiener Straße 9 / Ecke Celsiusstraße
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-61710
E-Mail: dingeldey@uni-bremen.de

Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz and Jenny Hahs presented three papers at the annual conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, which took place in New York.

Our project A03 was able to give three presentations at the 31st Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), that took place at The New School in New York City:

• Heiner Fechner presented the paper "Worlds of Labour - Protecting and Excluding Components of Employment Regulation in the Course of Globalisation", written jointly with Ulrich Mückenberger.
• Jean-Yves Gerlitz presented the paper "The Evolution of Standard and Non-Standard Employment Relationship Regulation Around the World: A Sequence Analysis of Regulation Patterns over Four Decades", co-authored with Irene Dingeldey.
• Jenny Hahs presented the paper "International Employment Regulation By the ILO: Will the Hidden Legal Segmentation be Overcome By Recent Universal Legislative Trends?" written jointly with Irene Dingeldey.

Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz and Jenny Hahs each received very good feedback on their presentations, as Hahs reports. She was also struck by the "inspiring, albeit certainly not uncontroversial, keynote speech" by Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic (Sciences Po, Paris) - "Prometheus to Dionysus: Can We Re-Enchant the Future?", in which she called on scientists to become more activist by saying: "We cannot only keep reading the world and lament ist state, we have to take an active part in changing too!"

Contact:
Dr. Heiner Fechner
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-57070
E-Mail: hfechner@uni-bremen.de

Jean-Yves Gerlitz
Jenny Hahs

Members of project A03 discussed their research on the regulation of labour standards and their segmentation effect with experts of the International Labour Organization.

Project A03 was on a research visit to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva from 3 to 7 December, represented by Dr. Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz, Jenny Hahs and PD Dr. Irene Dingeldey. The ILO tries to implement minimum standards of labour regulation and health and safety in all countries of the world. In order to support this, the ILO is collecting relevant data worldwide and is pushing ahead with a wide range of studies and research tasks relating to the topic of labour. The ILO is thus an important partner organisation of CRC 1342 and in particular of project A03 "Worlds of Labour".

The research of project A03 on the regulation of labour standards and their segmentation effect was discussed with experts from the ILO's own research department (RESEARCH), the International Labour Standards Department (NORMES), the Labour Law and Reform Department (LABOUR LAW) and the Statistics Department (STATISTICS). Both the assumptions on the segmentation effect of legal norms and the planned analysis of the influence of colonial relations on the development of specific regulatory patterns met with great interest. The segmentation-effective influence of ILO instruments was also reflected. The use of leximetrics as a method for the analysis of labour regulations was commented both supportively and critically.

The ILO offered opportunities for cooperation both in terms of methodology and content. Very important: The exchange of data with the project and the database "WeSIS" planned by CRC 1342 is also welcomed. The exchange with the various departments is to be intensified in the future.

A first date will be the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ILO in June 2019. At the large symposium "Globalization and Social Justice: A Century of ILO Action, 1919 - 2019", which takes place at the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, project A03 will be represented with a contribution by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mückenberger.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Irene Dingeldey
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Institute Labour and Economy
Wiener Straße 9 / Ecke Celsiusstraße
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-61710
E-Mail: dingeldey@uni-bremen.de

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mückenberger
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Faculty of Law
Universitätsallee, GW1
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-66218
E-Mail: mueckenb@uni-bremen.de