The globally changing world of work

The types, distribution, and value of work are changing both very rapidly but also agonizingly slowly. The pace is very rapid when one considers the changes brought about by digitalization and globalization. And it’s agonizingly slow in light of the persistent inequalities between genders or professional fields. The September edition of the quarterly WZB Mitteilungen tackles the broad issue of the modern world of work.

Martin Krzywdzinski and his team view the ambivalent “fourth revolution” in these terms: Digitalization is making human work both replaceable and more bearable. Articles on the creative industry in Germany and on surrogate mothers in India are concerned with questions of (self-) exploitation. The junior research group Work und Care is investigating the differences in pay in the social services, as well as the differing distribution of work in couples. Meanwhile, Valentina Mählmeyer and Axel Schröder provide an international perspective with reports from Russia and Bangladesh.

Further topics presented in this issue include social differences in voter participation, plans for a German Science Media Center, and the announcement of this year’s A.SK prize winner, the French-American economist Esther Duflo.

The WZB Mitteilungen magazine, entirely in German language, is published quarterly and provides insights into the research work of the WZB. You can subscribe to the magazine free of charge. You will find the current September 2015 issue here.