INTERNATIONAL INTERDISciplinary CONFERENCE
Managing Without Guarantees:
Between Getting-by and Enterprising
Montecatini Terme, Tuscany, Italy, 29-31 July 2025
Convenors: Italo Pardo and Giuliana B. Prato, University of Kent, UK
This 3-day International Conference is organized by the International Urban Symposium-IUS in the Tuscan SPA town of Montecatini Terme. The Conference aims to address variations of the socio-economic, fiscal, legislative and political forces that define the condition of the “guaranteed” and that of the “non-guaranteed” and examine the efficacy and legitimacy of both policy and political rhetoric.
Across the democratic world, there is an outstanding difference between the guaranteed and the non-guaranteed in the socio-economic field. Traditionally, the former enjoy secure employment, trade-union protection and the attendant ramified benefits (sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, paid holidays, pension rights, and so on); the latter must fend for themselves, enjoy little or no protection and deal daily with the existential jeopardy of not having a steady salary and with the personal and collective consequences of persistent uncertainty. Things get worse for those who work informally only and are faced with an organization of society that contributes to making precariousness their state of being – with no formal income, one will have trouble buying a car, getting a mortgage, obtaining credit, etc. This difference stands today, although in some countries the status of the secure employed is weakening as a consequence of the drive to de-regulation.
Mainstream studies based on an in-depth understanding of on-the-ground activities have brought out complex and ramified interactions between formal and informal activities in the economic field and evidence on actors who are guaranteed but also engage in moonlighting, performing economic activities that are the traditional remit of the non-guaranteed. In view of the substantial contribution that ethnographically-based analysis can make to our understanding of this complex field of human action, we invite scholars from the social sciences to participate in this event with ethnographically based papers to address key topics in this field.
Anthropologists and qualitative sociologists have convincingly investigated the difference in the way in which the traditionally precarious/non-guaranteed and those who have newly joined such a status – from industries that hitherto were considered guaranteed monthly payers to the emerging digital fields – cope with their new-found socio-economic reality. This line of analysis contributes significantly to the current discussion on work, employment, formality and informality, legality vs legitimacy, and on how digitalization, algorithmic management and AI applications are reshaping work and the job market.
Not all the “non-guaranteed” are, of course, underprivileged and downtrodden. For example, successful self-employed professionals or entrepreneurs may happily bear the lack of guarantees in exchange for their independence, freedom of action and financial rewards. Still, at the lower socio-economic level, the traditionally non-guaranteed may often feel and are treated as second-class citizens.
Work starts in the morning of 29 July and ends in the evening of 31 July. Participants are expected to arrive in the afternoon of 28 July and leave in the morning of 1 August. Participants will register in the afternoon of 28 July.
Key Topics
- Employment, unemployment and work, including informal activities, the under-employed, the unemployed, the self-employed.
- Inequality between the “guaranteed” and the “non-guaranteed”, and future job markets.
- The non-guaranteed who get by and the successful non-guaranteed, including entrepreneurs and professionals.
- Positive and negative drivers of the Gig economy and non-traditional employment contracts, including “zero hours”, fixed term or temporary work, agency work, seasonal work, moonlighting and multiple jobs.
- Impact of digital technologies. Digital apps, online and remote working, digital nomads, AI platforms and “ghost workers”.
- Interactions between the formal and the informal in the socio-economic field and their legitimacy, or lack of it.
- The coping strategies of the traditionally non-guaranteed and the newly non-guaranteed and the legitimacy of informal strategies.
- Non-economic resources in both surviving and thriving.
- The weight of bureaucratic regulations. How they are negotiated and the role of gatekeepers of knowledge and access.
- Access to credit, Formal versus informal sources of credit, and the risks associated with the latter.
- Regional disparities in employment and entrepreneurship and why such situations occur.
The Conference welcomes contributions and panels from anthropologists and scholars from other social sciences and humanities, and encourages participation of research students.
Revised papers will be considered for publication in the open-access, peer-reviewed Urbanities – Journal of Urban Ethnography, either as part of a Special issue or as individual articles. If applicable, collections of revised papers may be considered for publication in the Series Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology
IMPORTANT DATES and DEADLINES FOR PROPOSALS
Proposals should be sent to Prof. Italo Pardo at i.pardo@kent.ac.uk and Prof. Giuliana B. Prato at g.b.prato@kent.ac.uk.
- Deadline for Paper Proposals: Titles and 200-word Abstracts should be submitted no later than Monday 10 March 2025.
- Deadline for Panel Proposals: Proposals should include: 1) the Panel Title and 150-word Abstract; 2) At least 4 papers (including titles and 200-word Abstracts), and should be submitted no later than Monday 10 March 2025.
- Acceptance of Papers and Panels: Monday 31 March 2025.
- Registration Deadline: Monday 12 May 2025.
REGISTRATION AND CONFERENCE FEES
Conference Fees should be paid by the Registration Deadline. The Conference Fee is inclusive of Registration (Conference facilities, coffee breaks, certifications, administration, conference folders) and 4-day Accommodation (bed, breakfast and light lunch). All rooms are en-suite.
- 4-day single room stay: Arrival 28 July, Departure 1 August €640.
- 4-day twin room stay: Arrival 28 July, Departure 1 August. By arrangement with the organizers, participants will have the opportunity to share a twin room accommodation with their chosen colleagues. If a twin room is chosen, the total fee will be €560 per person.
- Students 4-day single room stay: Arrival 28 July, Departure 1 August €540; 4-day twin room stay: Arrival 28 July, Departure 1 August. By arrangement with the organizers, students will have the opportunity to share a twin room accommodation. If a twin room is chosen, the total fee for the event will be €460 per person.
- Registration exclusive of accommodation: €400
- Onsite Registration exclusive of accommodation: €500.
TRAVEL and VISA INFORMATION
- Travel Information: Montecatini Terme is easily reachable by train and by air. Details on travel information are available here
- Visa Information: Italy is in the EU Schengen area, so Schengen Visa rules apply to enter for the purpose of the Conference. Further information and relevant links are available here