Around 90 per cent of all goods are transported by sea worldwide. Maritime labour and the infrastructure of global logistics are therefore directly linked to social, economic and political disputes worldwide. Pandemics, military conflicts, the growing importance of so-called ‘shadow fleets’ and changes to migration policies have a direct impact on the working and living conditions of seafarers and dockworkers. At the same time, the workers who make the global movement of goods possible often remain invisible in public debates, or are devalued and dehumanised.

In this panel discussion, Janina Puder, together with Lars Stubbe and Sören Wichmann (ver.di), Matthias Ristau (German Seamen’s Mission), Anne Engelhardt (University of Bielefeld) and Jule Elena Westerheide (Ruhr University Bochum) on the current challenges facing maritime labour. The focus will be on the interconnections between labour, migration and militarisation, as well as on the question of how the perspectives and interests of workers can be made more visible and given greater political weight within these global processes of transformation.

The discussion thus also ties in with current academic debates on the significance of maritime infrastructures as hubs of global production and circulation processes, as well as with the question of the scope for action available to workers in the context of geopolitical conflicts, migration and socio-ecological transformation.

The event will be streamed live and subsequently uploaded as a video. Further information on the LABORA programme can be found here:
https://arbeit-der-zukunft.de/labora/programm

The book launch for *Blocked Transformation – Socio-ecological Transformation Conflicts and Resistance – Nationally and Internationally* (published in October 2025) will take place on 3 March 2026 in Leipzig. 

Dr Janina Puder will present key arguments from her contribution, co-authored with Nora Räthzel, entitled “Without a transformation of work – and thus of production itself – there will be no genuine ecological transition”, which appears in the anthology *Blockierte Transformation*. The discussion will focus on conflicts and obstacles to socio-ecological transformation in the spheres of production and labour, as well as on the question of how labour relations, job security, global production networks and ecological requirements come into tension with one another. The event offers an opportunity to discuss prospects for a socially just and ecologically sustainable transformation. It will take place on 3 March 2026 at 7.00 pm at the Bibliotheca Albertina, University of Leipzig.

Admission is free.

Click here for the event: https://www.kowa-leipzig.de/aktuelles/buchvorstellung-blockierte-transformation-sozial-oekologische-transformationskonflikte-und-widerstaende-national-wie-international 

Dr Virginia Kimey Pflücke, Dr rer. pol., will deliver the keynote address at the conference in Olten on 30 January 2026 on the topic of ‘Care vs. Coal: Gender and labour relations in transitioning industrial regions’. The presentation will examine the conflict between industrialism (Baethge 2001) in the context of structural change resulting from the coal phase-out and the social and environmental transformation of regions.

In her presentation, Dr Pflücke draws on empirical research (conducted jointly with Prof. Heike Jacobsen) into the labour market, the media and political discourses surrounding the coal phase-out, and the crisis-ridden employment histories of people in coal-mining regions (in particular in Lusatia). 

https://www.fhnw.ch/de/die-fhnw/hochschulen/soziale-arbeit/events/9-internationale-konferenz-arbeit-und-gesundheit

On 17 January 2026, visiting professor Dr Janina Puder, PhD, will speak as part of the ECHOLOT series of events at LOFFT – DAS THEATER in Leipzig. In the public debate ‘On Freezing and Enduring – Who Dreams of a Long Life?’, she will discuss the topics of longevity, cryopreservation and medical progress from a socio-ecological and socio-critical perspective.

Her talk will focus on questions of class relations, social inequality and unequal access to life-prolonging technologies: Who can afford a long life – and at whose expense? How are visions of immortality linked to social inequality and class relations? Together with other experts, she will discuss how scientific utopias – straddling the line between science fiction and reality – are embedded in existing structures of power and inequality.

The event is free of charge; it will be followed by a screening of the performance *FROZEN BODY IN A MELTING WORLD*.

https://www.lofft.de/programm/veranstaltung/echolot-vom-einfrieren-und-ueberdauern

On 1 January 2026, the research project ‘Port Work in Transition – Automation and Changes to Skills and Job Structures from the Perspective of the Workforce in Bremerhaven’ was launched. It supports the Change4Port practical project on social partnership-based transformation in container handling.

In cooperation with Ruhr University Bochum and the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, the study examines how port workers experience technological and organisational change at the port. The project is being led by Dr Jule Elena Westerheide (RUB), Martin Lenzner, M.Sc. (RUB) and visiting professor Dr Janina Puder (BTU). 

The research focuses on the perceptions, expectations and concerns of workers regarding automation, changing job requirements and skills development. Methodologically, the project combines a standardised survey of the workforce with in-depth interviews in order to gain both a broad overview and detailed insights into the perspectives of port workers.

The project will run until the end of 2026 and is funded by the Bremen Chamber of Labour with 59,000 euros.

As part of the annual conference of the German Sociological Association (DGS) on 23 September 2025 in Duisburg, the Section for Labour and Industrial Sociology awarded this year’s dissertation prize for outstanding doctoral theses in the field of labour and industrial sociology to Visiting Professor Dr Janina Puder. The award was given to her thesis entitled:
‘Accumulation – Over-exploitation – Migration. Labour in the Malaysian Palm Oil Industrial Complex”. The prize, funded by the section’s members, is worth 1,000 euros and is awarded every two years as part of the DGS Congress.

In September, PROKLA published its special issue ‘Work. Space. Struggles’ – featuring an article by Janina Puder and Jule E. Westerheide, which discusses initial findings from an ongoing research project on structural change and the capacity of port workers to take action. From the perspective of labour geography and the sociology of work, the article examines how shifts in ownership structures in the Port of Hamburg affect the scope for action and conflict dynamics among dockworkers, and what questions arise regarding their collective agency (agency) in the wake of increasing privatisation and rationalisation. Click here for the issue: https://www.prokla.de/index.php/PROKLA/issue/view/227

On 4 and 5 December 2025, the University of Kassel will host the international symposium ‘Socio-Ecological Transformation in Times of Regression’. The event is being organised by the Department of International Relations with a focus on Latin America, in cooperation with the Kassel Institute for Sustainability and the chair of Economic and Labour Sociology at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, represented by visiting professor Janina Puder and Dr Virginia Kimey Pflücke. The symposium brings together academics and activists to discuss the challenges and opportunities of socio-ecological transformations in times of regressive dynamics.

Further information on the programme and registration will follow shortly.

https://www.uni-kassel.de/fb05/fachgruppen-und-institute/politikwissenschaft/fachgebiete/internationale-beziehungen-mit-schwerpunkt-lateinamerika/aktuelles/news/2025/05/7/save-the-date-symposium-socio-ecological-transformation-in-times-of-regression.html?cHash=ee6030b9cd12ebf37026eb3d01d1306b

Dr Virginia Kimey Pflücke (Dr rer. pol.), Maximilian Hauer and visiting professor Dr Janina Puder (Dr phil.) will be running a workshop on 1 December 2025 at the conference ‘Labour Environmentalism: Crisis, Perspectives and Strategies’ in Berlin. 

The conference centres on issues relating to the escalating socio-ecological crisis and, within this context, the organisation of labour, production and social reproduction, and is organised by the Vienna Chamber of Labour, the Global Labour University, the HWR Berlin, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and others. 

The workshop, part of the ‘Conflicts over Extractivism’ stream, will examine historical and current experiences of environmental destruction and health problems associated with coal mining in the coalfields, and will work with partners from the field (BUND Cottbus and a works council from the Rhenish coalfield) to identify links between labour and environmental struggles.

https://www.rosalux.de/veranstaltung/es_detail/8N43D/labour-environmentalism-crisis-perspectives-and-strategies?cHash=c9da94d24c957f683cdadc08e7df2c2f

Public inauguration ceremony for the 50th ‘FrauenOrt’ in Bilillee Machbuba – BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Title: "Gender Relations in Regions Undergoing Structural Change: Interactions, Challenges, and Approaches
to Gender Equality Policy." https://www.bundesstiftung-gleichstellung.de/offenes-haus-kalender/fachtag-in-guter-gesellschaft-gleichstellungspolitische-chancen-und-herausforderungen-in-strukturwandelregionen/#:~:text=A%20gender-equality-oriented%20transformation%2C%20which%20can%20contribute%20to%20and%20strengthen%20democracy%20and%20equality

(Sociology Congress of the German Sociological Association), entitled ‘Social Science Perspectives on Transformation in Regions Phasing Out Coal’.

DGS2025_Transformation_Coal-Phase-Out Regions

From 7 to 11 July 2025, Visiting Professor Janina Puder will be attending the 5th Conference of the International Sociological Association (ISA) in Rabat, Morocco. She will be presenting two papers there: Together with Prof. Anja Weiß, she organised the panel ‘Inequalities of Access and Cross-Border Labour Markets’ (8 July, 9.00 am). She will also deliver a presentation on her ongoing research (in collaboration with Jule E. Westerheide) entitled: ‘Work and Environmental Awareness at the Bottleneck of Global Trade: Perspectives of Port Workers on the Ecology of the Global Division of Labour’ (8 July, 3.00 pm), organised by Dr Anne Engelhardt and Prof. Jörg Nowak

https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/conferences/forum/rabat-2025 

Visiting Professor Janina Puder, together with Dr Anne Engelhardt, has been awarded a grant to organise an international workshop on the topic
of ‘Socio-ecological transformation and labour disputes in the logistics sector’. The workshop will take place on 15–16 September 2025 in Kassel, in cooperation with the University of Kassel, the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and the University of Göttingen. On the first day, the focus will be on labour disputes in road haulage, aviation and the port industry; on the second day, international researchers will discuss global transformation processes and their impact on working conditions, conflicts and social reproduction.

The event will be held in English. Places are limited, so please register early.
Registration: Alexandra.Krausse(at)b-tu.de

On 13 March 2025, Janina Puder took part in the international workshop ‘Neoliberalisation, technological change, extraction and logistics. New and old challenges for the port sector in the face of geopolitical change’ (‘Neoliberalisation, technological change, extraction and logistics. New and old challenges for the port sector in the face of geopolitical changes”) in Valparaíso, Chile. The workshop addressed global structural change in the port sector in the context of geopolitical, ecological and economic crises.

In her presentation ‘Contested Port Labour in Times of Ecological and Economic Crisis’, she examined the disputes surrounding port labour from a transnational perspective.

A recording of her presentation is available online (in English and Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEFDODaSmEU