8–9 June 2023
Oslo Metropolitan University
Work is central to human wellbeing, but job quality has received comparatively little attention in economic history and historical wellbeing studies. The inclusion of ‘decent work’ in the Sustainable Development Goals and the recent profusion of present-day job quality metrics provide an opportunity for historical social science to contribute to discussions about the development of job-related wellbeing and the determinants of good work.
The Work and Wellbeing in History FRESH Meeting (8–9 June 2023) will bring together research on labor and quality of life in the past. The meeting will welcome economic and social historians, work researchers, and wellbeing scholars to share papers on work in the past, historical wellbeing, and the relationship between the two. We are delighted to welcome Professor Leandro Prados de la Escosura (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) and Professor Amy Erickson (University of Cambridge), who are world-leading experts in the study of historical wellbeing and labor, to deliver keynote lectures.
Potential paper topics include:
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Systematic analysis of working conditions in the past
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The interaction between job attributes and wellbeing metrics
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Social/cultural understanding of what parts of work matter for wellbeing
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New approaches to track how qualitative aspects of life changed over time
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Employment discrimination on non-wage dimensions
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Studies of events and factors that impact ‘decent work’ such as disease outbreaks, wars, regulation, and technological change
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Politics of work environment regulation
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Research on the relationship between occupational safety and productivity
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Interactions between welfare state institutions and ‘decent work’
Researchers interested in presenting should send an abstract of 250–300 words and a brief (1–2 page) CV to jobsinhistory [at] gmail.com by 10 March 2023. Early career scholars and researchers from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the academy are especially encouraged to apply.
Important Dates
10 March 2023: Deadline for submissions
17 March 2023: Presenters notified of acceptance
8–9 June 2023: Conference at OsloMet
This meeting is supported by the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research at OsloMet and organized in association with the Frontier Research in Economic and Social History (FRESH) series. It is part of the Work and Wellbeing in History project supported by the Center for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. There is no registration fee, and lunch and refreshments will be provided. Attendees will be expected to cover their own travel, accommodation, and the conference dinner (approximately 300 NOK). Travel funding of up to €125 will be offered to two graduate student presenters based on need.
Local Organizer: Dr Ben Schneider
FRESH Organizer: Dr Kathryn Gary