Annual Workshop of the Working Group (AK) Labour Geography
Conceptualised as Global Commodity Chains or Global Value Chains (GVCs), transnational production within global capitalism has traditionally been analysed through the lens of intra-firm relations and interactions, often within an affirmative, “win-win-win” framework of sustainable development. This annual meeting of the AK Labour Geography seeks to further challenge and move beyond this perspective.
We approach transnational production instead as networked groups of “embodied labour”, shaped by workers’ own subjectivities, relations and struggles (Cumbers et al., 2008). Critiquing narrow, managerial understandings of Global Value Chains, the concept of Global Production Networks (GPNs) shifts attention towards the ways in which transnational production is embedded within broader “horizontal” structures of state power, governance, civil society and nature. By systematically incorporating social reproduction, this perspective can be taken further to speak of Global Re/Production Networks (GR/PNs). This framework centres “whole workers” as socially embedded subjects, connecting the spaces and relations of production with those of social reproduction, care, and everyday life.
In cooperation with the Bonn Center for Slavery & Dependency Studies
In cooperation with the Bonn Center for Slavery and Dependency Studies (BCDSS), this meeting further seeks to situate the emergence and restructuring of GR/PNs within the historical violence of colonialism and its postcolonial continuities. Drawing on the BCDSS concept of “Strong Asymmetrical Dependency” (Winnebeck et al., 2023), GR/PNs incorporate spatially and historically specific forms of dependency relations and labour regimes. Such an approach foregrounds how contemporary forms of transnational production and social reproduction are shaped by enduring relations of domination and dependency, while also drawing attention to the agency of workers within these relations.
Join our annual meeting!
Against this backdrop, we warmly invite AK members, scholars, and activists to join our annual meeting. Together, we will critically examine GVCs, GPNs, and GR/PNs from a labour geography perspective to explore the dynamic and contested relations between globalised production, social reproduction, and labour agency. Crucially, the upcoming meeting aims to bring historical perspectives on interconnected forms of dependency and slavery into direct dialogue with contemporary debates.
The meeting is designed as a space for (interactive) working groups, rather than a mini-conference. Consequently, slots for paper presentations and opportunities to discuss individual draft papers will be limited. Nevertheless, we warmly welcome both paper submissions and workshop proposals that engage with – but are not limited to – the following thematic fields and questions:
- Labour & Multi-Scalarity: How can the multi-scalarity of GPNs be analysed through the lens of interconnected groups of workers in antagonistic relations with capital and the state?
- Social Reproduction & Nature: How can social reproduction and more-than-human nature be integrated into analyses of GPNs?
- Histories of Struggles: Is it possible to tell the history of GPNs as a history of struggles waged by spatially interconnected workers?
- Colonial Continuities: How are histories of slavery and (post-)colonial continuities inscribed in contemporary global value chains?
- Asymmetrical Dependencies: What are the spatial manifestations and consequences of highly asymmetrical dependencies?
- Digital & Spatial Restructuring: How are GPNs being restructured spatially and digitally, and what consequences does this have for different groups of workers and their struggles?
- Transnational Organising: How can spatially informed analyses of GPNs contribute to developing new transnational strategies of worker organising?
Registration & Contributions
Registration is possible and encouraged without submitting a paper or proposing a working group session. If you are interested to exchange with other scholars working with a Labour Geography perspective, please join the event!
To register and, if desired, submit a contribution – either a working group proposal or an individual paper presentation – please use the online submission form below.
Registration and submission deadline: 15 November 2026
Preliminary Programme & Further Information
The meeting will start on Wednesday, 10 February 2027, in the late afternoon/early evening and end on Friday, 12 February 2027, in the afternoon.
The annual meeting will take place at the IMPULSE building of the University of Bonn.
A preliminary programme and further information will be shared in early January.
Practical Matters
The official working language of the meeting is English.
If you have specific accessibility needs, require any support, or plan to attend with children, please contact the organising team. We are committed to making the event inclusive for everyone and will do our best to accommodate your requirements.
We look forward to receiving your contributions and to welcoming you to Bonn next year!
Benjamin Etzold, Caroline Hambloch, Benedikt Heckens, Jan Kordes, Oliver Pye and Michaela Doutch (Organisation team)
