9th International Community Work and Family Conference – Deadline Approaching

Additional Information:

The 9th International Community, Work and Family Conference will take place on 15-17 June 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the theme: Inclusive Community, Work and Family: Imagining Global Futures through Local Contexts. The event is hosted by Middlesex University London and the Coppead Graduate School of Business (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro). It will take place in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Pestana Rio Atlântica Hotel in Copacabana.

The conference will bring together our global multidisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners to contribute to debates on the community, work and family fields and to stimulate further research towards a more inclusive future. The conference will also provide ample opportunities for networking. A pre-conference doctoral workshop will be held as a full-day event on June 14 at the Coppead Graduate School of Business. The morning session will focus on topics relevant for research students and the afternoon session will provide students with an opportunity to present their work and receive feedback.

Community, work and family are interconnected and central in many people´s lives; however, experiences of community, work and family vary greatly across diverse and changing contexts. The focus on inclusivity invites us to harness the power of diversity, to embrace the complexity of intersectionalities, and to question dominant approaches in the community-work-family interface.

This conference offers the opportunity to engage in learning and knowledge creation in new ways, which include a range of realities and experiences in work and family life. As a community of scholars and practitioners, we welcome reflections on how we might collectively build on our expertise and local knowledge to (re-)imagine avenues to reduce inequalities, explorations of how we might foster the potential to collaborate across current boundaries to facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building, and ultimately work toward a more inclusive future. We hope to build on our own diversity in innovative and purposeful ways, focusing on improvements in health and wellbeing, inclusive socio-economic development, and the sustainability of communities.

Abstracts can be submitted across a range of themes. Papers dealing with themes and issues in the field of community, work and family not mentioned below are also welcome. Please note that we are happy to accept submissions in English, Portuguese or Spanish.

For more details, please go to the conference website (www.2023icwf.com). Questions about submissions or anything else should be directed to 2023icwf@gmail.com.

Themes

• COVID experiences in Latin America and beyond: Countries have experienced the pandemic and its consequences quite differently as they were subject to several factors that influenced how they dealt with, and responded to, the global health crisis. While the pandemic may be seen as a future accelerator, bringing changes and innovation in technology and the world of work, it has unveiled inequalities and contextual complexities, particularly in the context of the Global South. We invite papers that address the impact of the pandemic on individuals, families, work and communities and the ramifications and intersections of the health crisis.
• Different shades of informality and precarious work: More than half (61.2%) of the global workforce make their living in the informal economy, which is often characterised by work that is poorly paid, unprotected and insecure. However, around the globe, precarious work has also been on the rise in the formal economy. Although informality often has a negative connotation, we acknowledge that informal work-family supports exist in all types and sizes of workplaces and are particularly (but not only) valuable in employment contexts where workers do not benefit from formal policies. We invite papers that examine the impact of different types of informality and precarity on individuals, families and communities.
• Entrepreneurship in community, work and family: While there is a growing body of literature on different types of entrepreneurship (e.g., family, social, women), there continue to be implicit assumptions of heteronormativity, whiteness and place (Global North). We invite papers that challenge these assumptions and examine entrepreneurship in community, work and family in all its diversity.
• Family diversity: Family is an enduring form of social grouping that is prevalent across contexts but can differ greatly in its intersection with work. We encourage papers on new conceptuali­zations and meanings of family that address the different forms of families and family life that exist in society.
• Gender and female embodiment in community, work and family: This theme encompasses cultural ideals imposed on the female body and challenges in women´s life cycle. Topics might include a range of transitions and experiences from menstruation to menopause, issues with fertility and other aspects that interact with community, work and family research. We welcome papers that address gender and work but also encourage submissions that focus on female embodiment.
• Health and wellbeing: We invite papers examining how specific work and life conditions may affect individual, family, or community health outcomes. Topics may focus on issues related to physical and mental health, or the broader multidimensional concept of wellbeing that includes people´s experiences with quality of life, work-family conflict and so on.
• Inclusive innovation in community, work and family: We invite papers that discuss technological change that may impact the community-work-family interface. We welcome submissions that discuss the potential impact on society of truly inclusive innovation that improves opportunities and decreases inequalities. We encourage papers with approaches that reinforce the link between academics, practitioners and innovators that co-develop approaches to define opportunities and solve problems.
• Intersectionalities in community, work and family: How have we been considering intersectionalities in CWF research, conceptually and methodologically? We welcome papers that address gender, race, class and other diversity dimensions and identities as well as papers that explore neurodivergence, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, gender identities and other areas of intersectionality research.
• Masculinities and fathering in community, work and family research: There is a developing area of research that focuses on the experiences of fathering in different contexts through the theoretical lens of masculinities. We invite papers that explore how men construct their roles and identities as fathers in diverse family and cultural contexts.
• Migration – the good, the bad and the ugly: There is a long tradition of inter-regional migration in Latin America, and the region has also been known as a place that welcomed those fleeing political repression. However, we are now faced with a global migration crisis with individuals and families around the world fleeing from their countries. We invite papers that address the complexities of migration, the positive aspects associated with it, but also the inequalities that may arise due to unequal access to resources that affect employment rights and family wellbeing.
• New ways of working and the future of work: The return to work after the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a complex issue: How are we to continue working? This question has become a contentious subject mediated by the interests of organizational members, their families and communities. The speed and efficiency with which companies made the transition to remote working was a surprising consequence of the pandemic. The effects of these new ways of working led to further questions about employees´ health and mental well-being, work-life balance, conflict and enrichment, job engagement, productivity and turnover rates.  At the same time, new possibilities arose when questioning the prevalence of the office as the place of work:  How are the new technologies that proved so efficient during the pandemic affecting personal and family life? Are they isolating or integrating individuals within their communities? Will hybrid work become the “new normal”? Are the skills needed for the future of work, skills that allow personal flourishing and community growth? We invite papers in a range of areas that relate to new ways of working, remote working and the future of work.
• Organisational and public policies in community, work and family: We encourage research that improves our understanding of how public policy change empowers or limits the opportunities individuals have for gainful employment as well as thriving in family and community lives. These may involve labour market and welfare policy reforms. Contributions that focus on the intersection of organisational and public policies in the field of community, work and family are also welcome.
• Paid and unpaid work: We welcome submissions that examine the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work between genders, the division of household work and its consequences, including the mental workload.
• South-to-South connections: We invite papers that discuss cooperation and connections across the Global South and our roles of academics, practitioners and citizen-activists. Topics may include paths to increase collaboration across and within countries and regions, context-sensitive research, intersectionalities, decolonization, and others that may challenge dominant perspectives.
• Strengthening communities and relationships: We encourage submissions that address the willingness and ability of local and national communities to adapt to changing economic and societal conditions, anticipate future needs and tensions and foster sustainable relations between community, work and family. These can focus on aspects of inclusion and participation of minorities and disadvantaged groups and also the role of the third sector.
• Sustainable workplaces: We invite contributions that examine the conditions under which work, employment and business activities can develop and thrive, while maintaining a sustainable relationship with family, community and the environment.
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies: We invite papers that transcend disciplinary boundaries in community, work, and family research and that connect research and practice, involving non-academic stakeholders in the process of knowledge production.
• Transitions in community, work and family: This theme focuses on the variety of transitions that we experience at life and at work. We invite papers on career transitions but also on transitions to parenthood, retirement and others. We encourage discussions that discuss how transitions may impact identities positively or negatively, as well as states of liminality and in-betweenness as well as the role of work, family and community in this process.

 

Information on the conference location

This is the first CWF Conference held in Latin America, a region that has a rich and complex history. Latin America is known for its cultural diversity, blending indigenous, European, African and Asian people languages and traditions. Rio de Janeiro, the cultural capital of Brazil and possibly its most famous portrait, is widely known for its natural features. The second largest city in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro is a metropolis that is uniquely ethnically diverse and offers an ideal space to discuss the challenges and opportunities that individuals, families and communities face in life and work. In this call for papers, we echo two prominent Latin American figures – Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and Colombian sociologist Orlando Fals Borda. From Freire, we are reminded of the importance of knowledge and learning (and hope) to empower individuals and communities and help shape the present and the future. From Fals Borda and his speech in 1995, we are reminded of the role of research in supporting a social justice agenda. Below, we borrow his words to demonstrate an inclusive approach to research that could be equally applied to other aspects of life and work.

“Do not monopolise your knowledge nor impose arrogantly your technique, but respect and combine your skills with the knowledge of the researched or grassroots communities, taking them as full partners and co-researchers. Do not trust elitist versions of history and science which respond to dominant interests, but be receptive to counter-narratives and try to recapture them. Do not depend solely on your culture to interpret facts, but recover local values, traits, beliefs, and arts for action by and with the research organisations. Do not impose your own ponderous scientific style for communicating results, but diffuse and share what you have learned together with the people, in a manner that is wholly understandable and even literary and pleasant, for science should not be necessarily a mystery nor a monopoly of experts and intellectuals”.

 

Submission of abstracts and session proposals

Submission instructions: Please email your abstract submission to 2023icwf@gmail.com by 20 January, 2023. The subject line of the email should indicate which theme the abstract is being submitted. For the submission of additional themes or abstracts outside these themes, indicate the name of the proposed theme.

• Paper and poster presentations: A 500-word abstract. Please include:
  • The name of the theme (from the above)
  • Whether the presentation will be a paper or poster and in what language
  • Title, author names and affiliations, and 4 keywords
• Other session formats: An abstract of 1000 words describing symposium proposals, panel discussions, professional development workshops, research incubators and author-meets-critics sessions.
• PhD workshop: Doctoral students are invited to submit an application for participation in the doctoral workshop, which will be held on Wednesday 14 June. Applications should include a long abstract (2000 words max.) describing the research project (i.e., the theoretical framework, research objectives, data and methods and essential bibliography).

 

Important dates

• February 15^th 2023: Submission deadline
• By March 10^th 2023: Notification of acceptance
• March 31^st 2023: Early-bird registration ends

 

Fees

	Early bird registration (by 31 March, 2023)	Late registration (1 April – 30 May, 2023)
PhD students	250 Euro	350 Euro
Attendees from low and lower middle-income countries*	250 Euro	350 Euro
Attendees from Latin America	250 Euro	350 Euro
WFRN members	300 Euro	400 Euro
Others	350 Euro	450 Euro

*For a list of countries, please visit https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/membership/table-of-economies-by-category

Fees include attendance at all conference sessions, coffee breaks and light lunches during conference days, conference material, and some social events (i.e., a conference cocktail event).

For PhD students attending the pre-conference doctoral workshop, fees also include workshop attendance, workshop material, a coffee break and light lunch.

 

 

CANCELLATION POLICY: For cancellation requests, please email 2023icwf@gmail.com. Please note that 75% of the total amount will be refunded for requests made by January 31^st 2023 and 50% of the amount will be refunded for requests made by March 31^st 2023. After that date, no further refunds will be made.