PhD project
Project Leader: Priv.-Doz. Dr. Winfried Süß
This research project examines how new key technologies have transformed requirements, risks and patterns of inequality in the work environment, thereby creating social policy challenges. The project focuses on processes of automation, robotization, and digitization. We ask how social policy has shaped the ways in which we deal with new technologies, and how new technologies have changed the possible courses for social policy action. Our research examines both the direct and indirect effects of technological innovations on discourses regarding the welfare state, performance profiles, organizational structures, and labor relations.
This project is part of the research group “Social policy and technological change from a historical perspective (SOFO-HIST)” of the Collaborative Research Center of the German Institute for Interdisciplinary Social Policy Research (DIFIS-SOFO), funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour.
This sub-project at the ZZF Potsdam focuses on the level of labor practices and labor relations in manufacturing companies. What previous experiences did social partners draw upon? What kinds of opportunities and risks were identified? What role did operational social policy play in the introduction of new technologies? How were these modified during the implementation process? Under what circumstances did new technologies lead to work-related conflicts? The time frame of the study extends from the 1980s to the period following German reunification (the 2000s).
