The COST Action CA18205 “Worlds of Related Coercions in Work” (WORCK) is a European networking programme. It calls for a radical change of perspective in labour history by linking the stories of work and production with those of violence, expropriation and marginalisation. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of coercion in all work relations throughout history is the pivot of this endeavour.

From 2019 to 2023, WORCK brings together labour and social historians, linguists and anthropologists, lawyers and sociologists from more than 40 countries worldwide. By cutting across standard research fields, it enables exchange between scholars working on all types of labour coercion, ranging from chattel slavery and coolie work, debt bondage and military impressment to coercive mechanisms in household work or precariousness and modern forms of casualization.

WORCK has established four working groups:

Working Group 1: Grammars of Coercion

Working Group 2: Sites and Fields of Coercion

Working Group 3: (Im)Mobilisations of the Workforce

Working Group 4: Intersecting Marginalities

WORCK organizes annual meetings and scientific conferences as well as training schools for MA and PhD students.

For further information, see www.worck.eu

Contact Persons at the Department of Economic and Social History:

Juliane Schiel (Action Chair): juliane.schiel@univie.ac.at

Laura Šukarov-Eischer (Grant Holder Manager): laura.sukarov-eischer@univie.ac.at (former: Lukas Neissl)

Corinna Peres (MC Member for Austria): corinna.peres@univie.ac.at