The 10th International Community, Work and Family Conference will bring together our global multidisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners to contribute to debates on changing structures, policies and practices of community, work and family (CWF) and to stimulate further research in this regard. We are currently witnessing simultaneous and ongoing dynamics of change at the global level. Prime examples are the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization, climate change, migration, and ongoing armed conflicts. We invite paper presentations focusing on the meaning of these global change dynamics for CWF and their intersections. This includes contributions on long-term implications of the COVID 19 pandemic, digitalization and involved opportunities and risks for CWF, CWF in the eco-social transformation, or CWF in a context of ongoing conflict and war. Moreover, presentations are especially welcome which address public policies, inequality structures, and organizations as filters of attenuation and acceleration of global change. We also invite contributions on the politics of CWF, including consequences for policy feedback or social inequality. Papers on agency in CWF would help to shed light on individual strategies in managing the risks and opportunities involved in different dynamics of global change. We especially welcome contributions which integrate global perspectives of the global south and north.
The main conference will include keynotes by Prof. Dr. Tanja van der Lippe and Prof. Dr. Juliana Martínez Franzoni, thematic sessions, and several opportunities for networking, including social activities. PhD students are encouraged to submit abstracts to the conference as well as to take part in the PhD Workshop, which will take place on 25 March, the first day of the conference. The workshop offers PhD students the opportunity to present papers and receive feedback in two streams: ›Gender, Work and Family‹ and ›The Politics and Policies of Community, Work and Family‹, each supported by one of the keynote speakers.
Submissions of Paper Proposals
Please submit your paper proposal directly via the conference management tool Converia available via https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/icwf2025 by 30 June 2024.
Main Conference: Abstracts can be submitted to a specific session or to the general topics of the conference (see below). Please submit an abstract (500 words max.) describing the research interest, the theoretical background and methodological approach, (preliminary) results, and how the research relates to the conference topic or session. During the submission process you will have to choose 1-2 of the sessions or topics. Authors are only allowed to act once as main presenter.
PhD Workshop: PhD students are invited to submit an abstract for one of the following topics: ›Gender, Work and Family Life‹ or ›The Politics and Policies of Community, Work and Family‹. Submissions should include a longer abstract (1,000 words max.) describing the research project (i.e., the theoretical framework, research objectives, data and methods and essential bibliography). Participants will receive the opportunity to present and discuss their work with other PhD students from the field, the two keynote speakers and the organizing committee at Bielefeld University in depth.
Available Sessions and Topics
Besides proposals directed to specific sessions, the following broader topics of the conference can be chosen for an open abstract submission:
- Social Change and CWF (for example Climate Change, COVID-19 Pandemic, Eco-Social Transformation, Digitalization, Ongoing Conflict and War)
- Global Perspectives on CWF
- Agency in CWF
- Social Inequality Structures of CWF
- Politics and Policies of CWF
The following session proposals have been accepted for the 10th International Community, Work and Family Conference and can be selected for abstract submission. More detailed descriptions can also be found on https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/icwf2025.
1. Policy Contexts, Normative Policy Feedback, and Changing Gender Norms (Marie-Fleur Philipp, Eileen Peters): Contributions are welcome which help to better understand how policy contexts and reforms at different levels (country, region, organization) and their interplay shape gender norms and ideologies.
2. New Work - New Inequalities? The Ambivalent Effects of Digital Work on Job Quality, Work-Life Balance and Employee Well-Being (Sophie-Charlotte Meyer, Anita Tisch, Ines Entgelmeier): This session seeks for empirical papers exploring the challenges of digital and flexible work environments for CWF paying specific attention on variation across groups and working conditions.
3. Flexible Work and (New) Social Inequalities Among Families (Inga Laß, Ayhan Adams): This session invites contributions that provide insights into the context-sensitivity of the effects of flexible working on workers and their families. This applies to heterogenous family structure and living situations, the organizational and national context.
4. Changing Norms on Fatherhood (Marlene Schuster, Gerlinde Mauerer, Sonja Dörfler-Bolt): The session aims to bring together theoretical conceptualizations on modern fatherhood as well as empirical research that includes fathers› as well as couples‹ experiences in sharing employment and childcare.
5. Caring for Self and Others in the Times of Flux through Writing Differently (Kseniya Navazhylava, Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya): Submissions are welcome that engage with the question about writing differently or that practice writing differently, for an open discussion of where from and why we are writing. For example, asking what barriers exist to making academic writing more inclusive or what structures should be built to support new ethics of research?
6. In-between Family, Work and Company: Can Organizational Arrangements Help to Reconcile Family and Work Life?Analyses based on Linked Employer-Employee Data (Ann-Christin Bächmann, Dana Müller, Kevin Ruf): The aim of the session is to shed light on the interplay between individual decisions and company strategies for improving work-life balance. Beyond this, the challenges associated with existing linked employer-employee data, and in developing new, innovative ways to analyse reconciliation of family and working life across companies are especially welcome.
7. Normative Expectations and Attitudes at Fathers› Workplaces (Eva-Maria Schmidt, Andreas Baierl, Barbara Beham): This session aims to unpack how various actors at workplaces and in organizations construct, understand, and find strategies to deal with fathers‹ caring responsibilities; how can we tackle normative forces and collective attitudes in the working sphere that might hinder fathers’ responsible caregiving in their families; and which workplace interventions and organizational realities have the potential to change and degenderize family responsibilities?8. Parenting Leaves, Care Leaves and (In)Equalities (Johanna Lammi-Taskula, Ivana Dobrotić): This session welcomes submissions on various perspectives of (in-)equalities in (parenting) leave policies development and design, as well as take-up of leave, e.g. according to gender, employment status, diverse family forms or health.
Important Dates
- 1 March 2024: Call for papers disseminated
- 30 June 2024: Submission deadline for call for papers
- 1 September 2024: Notification of acceptance
- September-November 2024: Early bird registration
- 20 February 2025: Submission of the full papers for the pre-conference distribution within sessions
Further information including conference fees and traveling information can be found on the conference website https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/icwf2025. Please direct any questions to: icwf2025(at)uni-bielefeld.de.
We are looking forward to receiving your paper proposals.