Transnationalization, Globalization and their effects on mid-career mobility transitions
2nd workshop of the ESF TransEurope Research Network Stockholm, Sweden, September 05-06, 2008
Globalization, Transnationalization and Europeanization have become central reference points for media, politicians, academics, and policy-makers to explain social change and understand social inequality in European member countries. The phenomenon of Transnationalization can be characterized by four interrelated transnational shifts that have intensified in the last two decades:
- First, transnationalization refers to the globalization and Europeanization of markets and domestic structures and subsequent decline in the meaning and efficacy at national borders.
- Second, transnational shifts relate to the intensification of competition, i.e., the notion that capital and labor are increasingly mobile. It therefore forces not only firms but also national economies and welfare regimes to continuously adjust and become internationally competitive, often entailing a turn towards more deregulation, liberalization and privatization.
- A third feature is the spread of transnational networks of people and firms linked by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as microcomputers and the Internet. These ICTs, together with modern mass media, allow faster diffusion of information and knowledge over long distances and increasingly allow people to share information.
- Fourth, transnationalization is inherently related to the rise in the importance of markets and their dependence on random shocks. Actors are increasingly in the hands of anonymous global markets, yet changes are more dynamic and less predictable.
As a consequence of transnationalization, structural uncertainty about economic and social developments has risen significantly in European nations - be it in the form of economic uncertainty (e.g. economic precariousness of labor market position), temporal uncertainty (no permanent contracts) or employment relation uncertainty (e.g. public vs. private sector, dependent workers vs. self-employment). As shown at TransEurope Workshop I, this uncertainty has strongly affected young people and led to a deterioration of both their labor market chances as well as their individual family planning.
However, sociologists such as Ulrich Beck have argued that globalization and transnationalization may also lead to and deterioration of mid-career employment. According to these theorists, the idea of a continuous lifelong employment relationship and professional and occupational stability is increasingly coming apart due to rising flexibility demands on both nation states and employers. Unstable and less predictable “patchwork careers” are on the rise and increasingly characterize working lives. Many social mobility researchers, on the other hand, have argued that mid-career employment patterns have remained largely stable under globalization and that flexibilization has been restricted to the boundaries of employment life (“flexibilization at the margins”).
Furthermore, nation states appear to differ in their affectedness by and accomplishment of globalization. Increasing uncertainty is hence filtered by nation-specific institutions such as employment relations, education and training systems, national welfare state regimes, and the family. They act as a kind of ‘intervening variable’ between global macro forces and the responses at the micro level. Due to the persistence of cross-national institutional differences (‘path dependence’), life courses hence are affected differentially by transnationalization, resulting in cross-nationally varying mid-career patterns. Furthermore, cross-national differences can also be expected to arise with regards to how life chances and risks are channeled differentially towards specific social groups (such as those with lower educational attainment, lower occupational status etc.).
Against this general background, the second TransEurope workshop aims to disentangle the differential development of transnationalization and its life course consequences for mid-career employees of both sexes. Contributions deal with the development and respective life course consequences of transnationalization for mid-career men and women in different country contexts. Questions to be discussed at the workshop include the following:
- How have labor market mobility patterns of mid-career men and women (i.e. aged 30-55 years) developed under globalization? Can we in fact observe de-stabilization of long-term relationships on the labor market in the sense of an increasing prevalence of patchwork careers? In how far (and for whom) have processes of upward or downward labor market mobility increased (respectively decreased) under globalization?
- Which groups are especially exposed to increasing risks of downward mobility in their mid-careers? (e.g. men vs. women, employees with different educational attainment/occupational status, private vs. public sector employees, employees in different economic sectors) For which groups have opportunities expanded under globalization in the sense of better upward career chances? Who is faced with the risk of permanent exclusion from the labor market (e.g. through long-term unemployment)?
- Which nation-specific institutions influence labor market mobility processes directly and mediate the consequences of labor market mobility (e.g. unemployment insurance, active labor market policies, re-qualification and lifelong learning measures)? (e.g. different modes of labor market regulation, dismissal protection systems)? In how far have these nation-specific filters contributed to the development of nation-specific mid-career mobility regimes?
- Have trans-nationalization and globalization triggered the development of new kinds of labor market mobility beyond national borders? Who is affected by such types of mobility?
- Which “subjective consequences” do mobility patterns have for employees themselves, i.e. how is labor market mobility perceived by them and which effects on individual wellbeing does it bring about?
Programme Schedule
Friday, September 5, 2008, 10.00 – 18.00
Conference Opening, Conceptual Background
10.00 – 10.10
1. Hans-Peter Blossfeld, Michael Tåhlin and Dirk Hofäcker (Bamberg, Stockholm)
Welcome of Participants and Opening of Conference
10.10 – 10.55
2. Dirk Hofäcker (Bamberg)
Globalisation, Transnationalisation and Mid-Career Mobility –
Conceptual Framework and International comparison
10.55-11.15: Coffee break
11.15 – 12.00
3. Melinda Mills, Dennis Raven and Rudi Wielers (Groningen)
Transnational Careers: A 27 country analysis
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break
14.30-15.15
4. Dirk Hofäcker and Ellen Ebralidze (Bamberg)
Secure employment? An international comparison of labour market mobility and individually perceived job security
15.15 – 16.00
5. Klaus Schömann, Anette Fasang, Sara-Izabella Geerdes (Bremen)
Which type of job mobility makes people happy? A comparative analysis of European welfare regimes
16.00-16.20: Coffee break
16.20 – 17.05
6. Bettina Stadler (Vienna)
The effects of Europeanization on the job security of mid career employees in Austria
17.05 – 17.50
7. Heinz Leitgöb, Johann Bacher, Joachim Nemella (Linz)
Globalisation and Mid-Career Mobility in Austria
Saturday, September 6, 9.45-15.00
9.45-10.30
8. Michael Tahlin (Stockholm)
Changes in occupational mobility in Sweden, 1960-2000: The impact of globalization
10.30 – 10.50 Coffee break
10.50 – 11.35
9. Václav Kulhavý (Brno)
Labour market transitions and regulatory labour market in the Czech Republic
11.35 -12.20
10. Ellu Saar, Kristina Lindemann, Jelena Helemäe (Tallinn)
Ethnic-specific Mid-Career Job Mobility in Transnationalizing Estonia
12.20 –13.30 Lunch break
13.30 – 14.15
11. Hans-Peter Blossfeld, Michael Tahlin and Dirk Hofäcker
Summary Discussion and Closing of Conference
