IN-EAST News
26.11.2015 - 00:00
When Families Turn to the Market – Gender Workshop at Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin
Recent fiscal, welfare and employment policies in market economies around the world are seeking to shift the unpaid labour of housewives and other household members into paid employment relations, often in private sector service markets. Behind many of these policies is the aim to activate educated women with care and domestic responsibilities to either rejoin or increase their attachments to the labor force, while creating jobs for less educated women with fewer job opportunities.
The workshop “When Families Turn to the Market ... Gender Dimensions of Outsourcing Personal and Household Services: Politics, Markets and Inequalities in East Asian and European Comparison” brought together experts in research on the politics and practice of personal and household service work, including childcare and eldercare, to explore further research directions and possible collaborations. The workshop took place on November 20–21, 2015 in Torino and was organized by Margarita Estévez-Abe, Collegio Carlo Alberto, and Karen Shire, IN-EAST.
Preceding the workshop was a doctoral and postdoctoral seminar, where young scholars directly associated with the experts presented and exchanged their research related to family and demographic changes, social care, migration and mobility of domestic and care workers and the activation of female labor. The aim of this activity was to strengthen networks among young scholars in East Asia and Europe involved in family, social welfare and employment research in the social sciences, including economics, political science and sociology. A specific focus is attached to East Asian cases, to encourage inter-regional comparative exchange and research. Several experts in East Asian and European research on these topics commented on doctoral and postdoctoral projects.
The proposed format for the expert workshop was a mix of paper presentations and moderated discussion panels, with specific aims for outcomes (either publication or joint research). Panel participants gave a brief statement (10–15 minutes) on the state of their own research and knowledge on the subject, and for how to move research forward. Most of the time was reserved for moderated discussion. The final panel was devoted to outcomes.
To download the program please click here: http://www.carloalberto.org/assets/events/Workshop-20-21nov2015.pdf