Call for Papers: CERIC Doctoral Conference 2026

The Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC) warmly invites PGRs at all stages to the 2026 CERIC Doctoral Conference on "Work and Employment in an Era of Global Reordering".

The Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC) warmly invites postgraduate researchers at all stages of their PhD to the 2026 CERIC Doctoral Conference “Work and Employment in an Era of Global Reordering”, which will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026, in a hybrid mode.  

CERIC, based at the University of Leeds, is one of the largest interdisciplinary groups of social scientists working in the field of work and employment in the UK. The Doctoral Conference has, for over a decade, provided a supportive and engaging environment for postgraduate researchers across the UK, and internationally, to share their work.

Over the past period, intense and rapid global shifts have been occurring, profoundly affecting work and employment relationships. The rise of far-right and populist political movements worldwide, alongside geopolitical turbulence and conflict, as well as social and technological developments—such as the expansion of platformisation, algorithmic control, the rise of generative AI, and the worsening climate change crisis—has significantly impacted work and employment. This bold structural shift in an increasingly unstable global order, contributing to the reproduction and intensification of social and economic inequalities, is reshaping labour processes, working conditions, and employment relationships. In this era of multiple, interconnected, and overlapping crises, we invite critical reflections on various topics relating but not limited to new forms of workers’ representation and resistance, the changing nature of work, and the development of more sustainable management and organisational strategies across diverse contexts and forms of work. With the theme “Work and Employment in an Era of Global Reordering”, the 2026 CERIC Conference invites PhD researchers to critically engage with these developments from diverse empirical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives.

We warmly welcome abstracts from postgraduate researchers who wish to present their work either online or in person. Applicants are encouraged to submit abstracts for presentations covering aspects related, but not limited, to:

The role of technology in shaping work and employment (e.g. digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic management).

Transformations in global politics and economy and their effects on work, employment, and workers’ well-being.

Inequalities, diversity and inclusion in work and employment (e.g. gender, race, class, ethnicity, migration status, disability, sexual orientation, mental health)

Employment relationships and worker voice (e.g., the role of grassroots unionism, trade unions, worker agency, control and collective bargaining)

Human resource management and organisational strategies under political, economic, technological, and environmental pressures.

The role of climate change in work and employment, and sustainable and environmentally friendly strategies

The conference has an interdisciplinary focus; therefore, applicants from sociology of work, human resource management, organisational behaviour, labour law, critical political economy, and any related disciplines are welcome to submit abstracts.

Deadline for abstract (300 words) submission: Friday, April 10, 2026.

Notification of acceptance: Friday, April 24, 2026.

The abstract submission can be made via email: CERICPGRConference@leeds.ac.uk

CERIC is pleased to award three prizes, consisting of £300 for first place, £200 for second place, and £100 for third place, to cover attendance at a leading conference of the PhD students’ choice.