The politics of equality: the evolving nature of equality agendas at work in the UK and Europe in a context of political uncertainty
| Dates: | 11 March 2026 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 18:00 |
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| What is it: | Workshop |
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| Organiser: | Work and Equalities Institute |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Adults, Alumni, Current University students |
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The workshop will discuss key research findings from an ESRC-funded project focusing on the rhetoric and policy development of equality and regulation at work and within organisations in the UK and internationally (France, The Netherlands and Spain).
The project aimed to understand how equality policies have developed across time within different national, institutional, and political contexts, and how the countries have engaged with the notion of equality at work in terms of its language, practice, and institutional sustainability.
Using a qualitative methodology involving in-depth interviews and focus groups in each national context with actors including employers, trade unions, policy actors, NGO’s, and other academics and experts, the project investigated the key paradigm shifts in the engagement with equality and underlined the way in which these paradigms are understood and responded to within the sphere of work and employment.
The research also outlined the nature of new challenges that have emerged in a context of political uncertainty and how these have been responded to by various organisations across the private and public sphere.
The workshop will include interventions from the academics involved in the project, Prof. Miguel Martinez Lucio, Dr Heather Connolly, Dr Stefania Marino and Dr Holly Smith, as well as two roundtables comprising of experts from the respective different national and organisational contexts.
Travel and Contact Information
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Mechanics Institute
103 Princess Street
Manchester
