The REGULATING WORK project in a few words:
If the literature on informal economies allows to better understand how the majority of the world population makes a living, it has not overcome the limitations of the concept of informal economy itself. It remains for this reason unable to account for changes in the domain of work in both their diversity and complexity. To address the shortcomings of the concept, the REGULATING WORK project proposes new analytical directions that will be tested in a qualitative study on the regulation of work in the construction and transport sectors in Belgium and Benin or Cameroon.
A team of four Ph.D. students will focus on the role played in this process by state officials, on the one hand, and the actors involved in the two sectors, on the other. Our hypothesis is that their regulating activities do not result in a simple separation between formal and informal employment, but in various and complex forms of (in-)dependent work. Such a project, we believe, touches upon a central issue of our times, that of analyzing the transformations of work beyond the normative model of the full-time stable job, and the dualistic analytical framework that goes along with it.
This project of a duration of four years (2019-2023) is led by Benjamin Rubbers (anthropologist, LASC/IRSS) and François Pichault (sociologist, LENTIC/HEC) at the University of Liège.
Call for application:
Four Ph.D. fellowships (4 years, full time) at the University of Liège are offered within the framework of this project:
1. One Ph.D. fellowship for carrying out the research on work in the transport sector in Benin or Cameroon. This thesis will be in the domain of political and social sciences and supervised by B. Rubbers.
2. One Ph.D. fellowship for carrying out the research on work in the construction sector in Benin or Cameroon. This thesis will be in the domain of political and social sciences and supervised by B. Rubbers.
3. One Ph.D. fellowship for carrying out the research on work in the transport sector in Belgium. This thesis will be in the domain of management studies or of political and social sciences and supervised by F. Pichault.
4. One Ph.D. fellowship for carrying out the research on work in the construction sector in Belgium. This thesis will be in the domain of management studies or of political and social sciences and supervised by F. Pichault.
Researchers will receive a monthly grant and funding for carrying out the research and participating to scientific events.
- Conduct qualitative research (interviews, participant observation, data collection, etc.)
- Write and complete a Ph.D. dissertation before the end of the contract
- Complete the doctoral training programme
- Present research results in international conferences
- Participate in the logistics of the research project
- Publish at least one article as single author and one article as co-author with the project leaders and/or other team members
- A MA degree in social sciences (anthropology, sociology, political science, management, development studies, or labour studies)
- Relevant experience with qualitative research
- Proficiency in French and English
- Ability and interest to work in team
Professeur ordinaire
LENTIC/HEC (ULiège)
B51
Boulevard du rectorat, 19
B – 4000 Liège
F.Pichault@uliege.be
