This year’s networking meeting of the Working Group (AK) Labour Geography took place on February 13 and 14 at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Research at the University of Graz in Austria. With over 50 participants, it was the largest meeting in the history of the working group, which was founded in 2020. The thematic focus “Labour Geography – Who cares?” centered on labour geography issues of care and social reproduction.
Focus: Care work and social reproduction
In a broad program with twelve content-related sessions, the participants dealt with working conditions in various sectors – such as the health and care sector, agriculture and the energy sector – in both classic paper sessions and in more open formats such as workshops, joint discussions and feedback rounds on new research outlines. Through a focus on emotions, the invisibility/visibility of work, migration, gender and collective organization, the importance of a transversal perspective on work that embeds wage labour in the conditions of social reproduction became clear time and again.
Three international guests were invited to the AK meeting for the two keynote speeches. The conference began with a keynote by Sarah Marie Hall (University of Manchester) and her presentation “Reproducing Intimate Infrastructures in Times of Economic Change”. Hall presented the results and reflections of a participatory research project on a campaign supported by young people from the working class in Greater Manchester. She showed the relevance of intimate relationships and places, so-called intimate infrastructures, for the flourishing of social movements and also made this form of reproductive work visible.
In the evening keynote by John Holloway and Lucí Cavallero entitled “Doing Emancipation Against Authoritarian Capitalism”, the two speakers discussed their views on the scope and conditions for progressive politics under the conditions of an increasingly authoritarian capitalism. Against the backdrop of the ultra-right Milei government in Argentina, Cavallero spoke about the necessity of feminist analytical perspectives in order to demonstrate the differential impact of precarization and violence. Holloway offered a classic reflection: the basis of emancipatory politics lies in the widespread outcry against current conditions and should also be seen as a pivotal point for reflecting on the current authoritarian turn.
Photo: Christiane Meyer-Habighorst.
Care work in research and teaching
In the tradition of the AK Labour Geography, we also looked at our own working conditions at universities and research institutions. Sarah Wack and Heide Bruckner (University of Graz) kicked things off with a reflection on academic care work. They defined this as a variety of tasks such as emotional support for colleagues and students, mentoring and academic self-administration tasks. Based on their empirical, qualitative research, they were able to show that this reproductive work at universities often remains invisible, is little appreciated or is not equally supported by everyone. This unpaid extra work is highly problematic, especially when it comes to filling positions, as commitment in teaching and committees counts far less than quantifiable output in research. We then discussed relevant challenges and difficulties that we ourselves experience in this context in the plenary session. We therefore also exchanged views on organizing strategies that are already being implemented at research locations. Keywords such as making care responsibility visible in research and teaching, increased cooperation with trade unions, and cohesion and mutual strength among colleagues at the institute were mentioned.
What’s next? Anchoring labor geography in human geography!
Anna Verwey, Rivka Saltiel, Nikolaos Gatsinos and Janne Lentz (f.l.t.r).
The conference ended with a round of reflection and planning for next year. The meeting will take place at the University of Halle/Saale in February 2026. The exact date is currently being coordinated and will then be published on our working group’s website. The preparatory team would be delighted to hear from other people who would like to help organize the event. If you are interested, please contact the speakers directly: kontakt (at) ak-labourgeography.de.
The current spokespersons, Barbara Orth, Christiane Meyer-Habighorst, Stephan Liebscher and Yannick Ecker, will once again represent the Working Group Labour Geography for one year.The aim is to further anchor labor geography in German-speaking human geography: on the one hand through the exchange of syllabi and teaching materials, on the other hand through panels at the New Cultural Geography conference in autumn 2025 and a summer school in summer 2026. Current information on this and the opportunity to subscribe to our mailing list can be found on the website of the AK Labour Geography. Stay tuned!
Last but not least: A big thank you to the organizers!
Finally, we would like to thank the organizing team around Anna Verwey, Christiane Meyer-Habighorst, Janne Lentz, Nikolaos Gatsinos, Rivka Saltiel and William Westgard-Cruice, who organized the conference as a hybrid team from different locations. Their efforts gave the conference a very personal and productive character and, together with the public evening keynote, enabled the AK to intervene in both academic and urban discourse. We would also like to thank all the helpers on site in Graz, Julia Walk’s catering, the Labour Geography Network, all session and panel moderators, the speakers and the participants for their participation and support in this successful meeting!
Barbara Orth, Christiane Meyer-Habighorst, Stephan Liebscher und Yannick Ecker (AK Labour Geography)
