Project description
How remote work is reshaping everyday life
The lines between work and home have blurred. Remote work is now a daily reality for millions, reshaping how people live, connect, and care for one another. But what does this shift mean for families, friendships, and everyday life? The ERC-funded ReWorkChange project is digging deep into these questions. Moving beyond corporate case studies, it explores the social impact of remote work in six countries (China, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and Türkiye). Using rich, comparative ethnographic research, the project aims to understand how digital connectivity and hybrid work affect people. The project will chart how remote work is quietly transforming the fabric of society.
Objective
Remote work has become normalised as an important aspect of people’s lives across different professions, social classes and geographic regions. In the knowledge economy, work is now less tied to specific physical locations and is re-spatialised in new hybrid ways. But what are the consequences of remote work and always-on-connectivity on people's everyday lives? How do these affect social institutions such as the home, family, household and friendship, and broader processes of social change? ReWorkChange aims to answer these questions by delivering a comparative ethnographic study of the societal consequences of remote work, defined as work tasks performed outside the traditional office setting. Most research on remote work has been carried out in the fields of management and organisational studies and is limited to case studies in the global north. In contrast, ReWorkChange’s scope is far radically more comprehensive and wide-ranging. The project will build on practice theories to conduct a comparative study of the consequences of remote work on people’s everyday lives in six countries with an advanced knowledge economy: China, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and Turkey. It will provide rich and compelling ethnographic evidence of everyday practices to generate theories of social institutions and a broader theory of remote work and social change. The PI has extensively explored family life, kinship, love, romances, gendered relations, home and homeland as mediated practices, in Lebanon, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Additionally, she has previously worked towards the conceptualisation of digital media and social change. She is, hence, the ideal candidate to achieve the ambitious goal of exploring and theorising the impact and implications global processes of digitalisation and transformations of work have on cultures and societies worldwide.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.