Transforming the Boundaries between Formality and Informality In the World of Work

The contemporary world of work is characterized by growing heterogeneity and contradictory trends. On the one hand, over the past decades, many countries have witnessed the gradual development of labor legislation, social protection mechanisms, and employment regulation, contributing to the strengthening of formal labor relations. On the other hand, digitalization, economic instability, global competition, the transformation of economic systems, and the spread of flexible forms of employment are increasingly accompanied by the erosion of established labor standards. All these processes manifest at different levels and within various institutional contexts, where informality may be associated both with insufficient regulation and limited access to social protections, and with the emergence of hybrid forms of employment that blur the boundaries between dependent and independent work.

The session invites contributions addressing processes related to the formalization of labor relations, the development of new mechanisms for the recognition of work, and the expansion of social protection systems in conditions of global turbulence. Of particular interest are studies on:

1) institutional, social, legal, and other innovations aimed at regulating various forms of non-standard employment;

2) the expansion of workers’ access to labor rights, social benefits, and mechanisms of representation;

3) the role of states, trade unions, international organizations, and digital platforms in shaping new regimes of labor regulation;

4) processes of institutionalizing new occupational groups and categories of workers;

5) successful practices of integrating informal employment into systems of social security and labor law.