In Germany, collective action of employees is mostly exercised by representatives (Works Councils and trade unions); their activity is both highly juridified and gendered. The sub-project investigates how the law (mainly employment and labour law) is involved in the gendering of collectives and collectivization and how it constitutes gendered collectivities.

The sub-project works with the notion that legalized collective action is in crisis. This crisis has evolved in correlation with the changes in workplaces and employment. These changes are characterized by tendencies towards dissolution of establishment boundaries, and blurred boundaries between work and private life, as well as the subjectivization of employment itself. Therefore, the sub-project’s inquiry encompasses all forms of collective action in the workplace, this includes new forms which involve virtual and public spaces beyond the establishment itself. Investigations on gender and the law in workplace collectivization will especially have to take into account the extent to which new forms of collective action rely rather on self-representation than on legalised forms of representation of interests.

Team:   Eva Kocher   Isabell Hensel   Judith Höllmann   Vanessa Kasprick   Theresa Tschenker (associate member)

Funding phase 2 (2021-2024)

Publications of the sub-project