The APAD conference of 2024, which was held at the University of Liège, proposed to analyse the dynamics of capitalism, development, and social change in the Global South through the lens of work. Using work as an analytical lens opens up a wide range of questions that touch upon – among others – the materiality of work and the use of technologies; the ethics of work and professional aspirations; work-related family configurations; social relations inside and outside work; careers and social mobility trajectories; gender, generational, class, and racial inequalities on the labour market; the forms of labour-value capture and processes of capital accumulation; or labour policies, and the dynamics of workers’ mobilization and representation.
The aim of the conference was twofold. On the one hand, it was to take a fresh look, from a work-centered perspective, at key themes in the tradition of APAD such as brokerage, political arenas, the functioning of state administrations, and the implementation of public policies. On the other hand, it was to open new avenues for studying development in its relationship with political economy and social change.
230 people attended the conference. They took part in the 25 panels proposed in the programme.