16th Braga Summer School in Political Philosophy and Public Policy. Workplace Democracy and the Future of Work

July 2–3, 2026 | University of Minho, Braga – Portugal (Following the Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy, 29 June–1 July)

New Deadline for Abstract Submissions: May 17, 2026

Where: School of Letters, Arts and Human Sciences - University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. Organization: Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society of the University of Minho.

Keynote

Iñigo González Ricoy – University of Barcelona
Nicholas Vrousalis – Erasmus University Rotterdam

Lectures by

Catarina Neves – Utrecht University
Hugo Rajão – Independent Researcher

About the School: Contemporary scholarship increasingly examines transformations in labor and workplace governance within advanced capitalism, with particular emphasis on technological change, automation, and artificial intelligence. Often justified in terms of efficiency—productivity, cost reduction, flexibility, and competitiveness—these developments raise profound normative concerns about justice, domination, and inequality in the workplace. From industrial capitalism to contemporary platform economies governed by algorithmic management, efficiency has evolved into a normative principle shaping labor relations, institutional frameworks, and political priorities. Today, it manifests in precarious employment, weakened labor protections, intensified managerial oversight, and technological displacement, posing significant challenges for democratic societies. Building on the success of previous editions, this Summer School focuses on workplace democracy and the future of work, treating workplaces as primary sites of justice and injustice in contemporary societies. Efficiency-driven market structures may generate normatively objectionable forms of exploitation, domination, and exclusion, raising fundamental questions about freedom, equality, and democratic legitimacy.

Key questions include:

To what extent is labor exploitation an unavoidable feature of efficiency-oriented markets?
How does exploitation relate to republican freedom as non-domination and liberal ideals of fair cooperation?
How do organizational hierarchies, governance structures, and algorithmic management shape workplace injustice and broader social inequalities?
What institutional responses—from exit options such as Unconditional Basic Income to labor constitutionalism, co-determination, or alternative ownership models—are normatively justified?

We invite submissions on topics including (but not limited to):

Efficiency as a normative ideal and its limits
Automation, AI, and the future of work
Workplace democracy and firm governance
Exploitation, domination, and commodification at work
Market efficiency and distributive injustice
Exit options (e.g., Unconditional Basic Income)
Labor law, regulation, and labor constitutionalism
Platform work, self-employment, and precarity
Collective rights, unions, and the right to strike
Property–labor relations and corporate power
Alternative models of the firm (cooperatives, co-determination, wage-earner funds, hybrid or non-capitalist enterprises)
Socialist, republican, and hybrid institutional responses to contemporary capitalism

Format and Aims: The Braga Summer School aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among political philosophers, legal theorists, economists, and social scientists. It will combine keynote lectures, participant presentations, and mentoring opportunities for PhD students and early-career researchers.

Abstract Submissions: To submit an abstract, fill in the information here. Please provide your name, contact information, affiliation, and short bio (no more than 300 words). Abstracts should not be longer than 500 words, along with five keywords, and must be prepared for blind review.

Registration: The deadline for registration is 15 June 2026. Both attendants and those presenting a paper should register for the School. For further details on fees and registration, please visit https://ceps.elach.uminho.pt/pt-pt/event/7013/.

All inquiries should be sent to: [email protected]

https://16bragasummerschool.weebly.com/