SocioPerception vol. 46 in Wrocław
The Wrocław Branch of the Polish Sociological Association, the Institute of Sociology of the University of Wrocław, and the Sociology of Work Section of the Polish Sociological Association, in cooperation with Wrocław Institute of Culture, have the pleasure of inviting you to the next meeting in the SocjoPercepcja series. The event will take place on the 26th of March, 2025 (Wednesday) at 6:00 PM (18:00) in Recepcja (café-club) at ul. Ruska 46 in Wrocław.
The overlapping crises of our times — the multi-crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising living costs, war, natural disasters linked to climate change, and growing authoritarianism in politics — have confirmed that care work, both paid and unpaid, is essential for society’s survival. This work is predominantly performed by women and, in the case of domestic care for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, increasingly by migrants.
In most Western countries, paid care work in sectors such as healthcare and social assistance has been subjected to increasing competitive and pricing pressures over the past few decades. This has been driven, among other factors, by the introduction of market accountability criteria as part of a broader process of liberalisation and marketisation of these sectors. Low wages, along with mentally and physically demanding work, especially in the context of overlapping crises, have led to growing labour shortages, as well as protests and unionisation efforts in many countries.
During the meeting, we aim to take a closer look at the biographical experiences of care workers, with an emphasis on female workers employed in hospitals, social care homes, and domestic care in Poland and the United States — two countries representing different paths of care service liberalisation. We will address the following questions: What similarities and differences can be observed in the career paths leading to care professions in both countries? How have care workers coped, both individually and collectively, with the accumulating crises in their workplaces and societies?
The discussion will be framed by biographical research conducted by the speakers in these sectors. In Poland, the studies were carried out between 2021 and 2023 as part of the National Science Centre project COV-WORK. In 2024, research was conducted in the state of New York, USA, within a project funded by the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission.
In the case of Poland and the USA, we will also invite discussion on the role of everyday, grassroots solidarity, mutual aid, and collective mobilisation in the face of accumulating, chronic, and sudden health, socio-economic, and political crises.
Guests:
dr hab. Adam Mrozowicki, prof. UWr, head of the Department of Sociology of Work and Economic Sociology at the Institute of Sociology, University of Wrocław, former Fulbright scholar, sociologist specialising in labour, industrial relations, and biography, focuses on the polycrisis in the field of work.
dr Jacek Burski, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology of Work and Economy at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Wrocław, sociologist specialising in labour, biography, and culture.
mgr Alicja Palęcka, assistant at the Department of Sociology at the University of Warsaw, sociologist of labor, researcher of unemployment and essential work.
Lead:
dr hab. Kamil Łuczaj, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology of Culture at the University of Łódź, biographical sociologist, researcher of social mobility and migration. Former scholar at the University of New Mexico, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Cambridge.
Translated by Valiantsina Trafimuk (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
Date of publication: 25.03.2025
Added by: M.J.
