Valeria Pulignano (born 13 May 1968) is an Italian-born sociologist, full Professor of Sociology at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, and author of numerous publications on comparative industrial relations, labour markets and employment in Europe. She was formerly (2013–2017) scientific director of the Center for Social Sociological Research (CeSO)[1] at KU Leuven. She is Specialty Chief Editor of the "Work, Employment and Organization" section of Frontiers in Sociology,[2] co-coordinator of the RN17 Work, Employment and Industrial Relations at the European Sociological Association (ESA)[3] and principal investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant Research Project “Revolving Precariousness: Advancing the Theory and Measurement of Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Continuum” (ResPecTMe).[4]

Valeria Pulignano
Born(1968-05-13)13 May 1968
Maratea, Italy
CitizenshipItaly
Alma materWarwick University, University of Calabria
Known forComparative Industrial Relations and Employment Studies in Europe
Scientific career
Fieldssociology of work, comparative European employment (industrial) relations, labour market dualisation and inequality
Thesis (Ph.D. 1996)
Websitehttps://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/wo/erlm/team/valeria-pulignano

Education edit

Pulignano obtained a bachelor's degree in economics and social science at the University of Calabria (summa cum laude) in 1992, followed by a PhD in sociology from the same university in 1996. Her dissertation on “Beyond the Factory. Supply Chain and Post-fordism” was published in 1997 with L’Harmanattan.[5] Afterwards, she did a master's degree (mark: Distinction) in European Industrial Relations at Warwick University (1998–1997), with dissertation topic: “Teamwork and trade unions representation: Italy and United Kingdom compared”, which was subsequently published (under a similar title) in Capital & Class in 2002.[6] She then spent 1998–2000 as a post-doc in sociology and worked together with Giuseppe Bonazzi [it] at the Department of Sociology, University of Turin. Dissertation Topic: “Outsourcing and the modular organisation of production in the auto sector: Evidence from Brazil, Italy and France”. Based on that work, in 2002 she co-edited with Giuseppe Bonazzi and Michele La Rosa [it] a special issue on “Sociology of Work and Organizational Studies: the State of the Debate in Italy and Great Britain”.[7]

Career edit

Pulignano is a scholar of employment relations and labour markets, their changing nature and implications for voice at work and labour market inequality in terms of differences in wages, working conditions, job quality and wellbeing. She focuses on European and national (macro) policy processes as well as (micro) power dynamics, that accompanied the changes within the production organization of large corporations; and their effects on wages working conditions and job quality. This has led to two major contributions: The first is the profound theoretical approach of ‘sociological institutionalism’, where social actors (both capital and labour) – and their power resources – are the central agents of changes within capitalist societies. In her comparative work on employment where she uses a more ‘dynamic’ and less ‘functionalist’ analytical perspective, she has empirically and theoretically contributed to strengthening the sociological political economy (‘power’ as socio-political) dimension within the study of industrial and employment relations and labour markets, and their transformations, which she has approached from a European comparative perspective.[8][9][10][11]

The second major contribution is a more complex and novel interpretation which considers capital and labour as social forces (‘agents’) of change whose respective nature has undergone continuous fundamental change. By studying the different forces, actors, and processes that concurrently shape the transformations at work, her research in the last ten years has helped to shed light on the importance of using a macro-micro and micro-macro approach empirically and analytically as a way of linking different levels of analysis through the use of a combination of qualitative and quantitative (mixed) methods.[12][13]

Honors edit

  • Member of the Academische Stichting Leuven (Academic Foundation Leuven), 2016[14]
  • Guest Professorship Chair at the Department of Socio-Economic Studies (DIESE) Sapienza University of Rome - Awarded by the Italian Minister of Scientific Research - April-May 2017
  • Principal coordinator International Francqui Professor: Steven Vallas 2017-2018[15]
  • Co-President European Sociological Association (ESA) RN17 Work, Employment and Industrial Relations[18]
  • Scientific Coordinator Center for Sociological Research (CESO) – KU Leuven 2013-2017
  • Member of the Advisory Board (Raad van Bestuur) of HIVA (Hoog Instituut van Arbeid) Since 2014[19]
  • Member of the International Advisory Board of the Work and Equalities Institute at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom – Since 2016[20]
  • Member of the International Advisory Board of Centre for European Research (CERGU) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, since 2016[21]

References edit

  1. ^ "Valeria Pulignano". soc.kuleuven.be/ceso. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  2. ^ "Editorial Board". frontiersin.org. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  3. ^ "Board Members". europeansociology.org. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  4. ^ "RESPECTME". soc.kuleuven.be/ceso. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  5. ^ Pulignano, Valeria (1997). Oltre la fabbrica. I rapporti di fornitura nel post-fordismo (in Italian). L'Harmattan Italia. ISBN 9788886664547 – via https://www.harmattan.fr/groupeharmattan/. {{cite book}}: External link in |via= (help)
  6. ^ Pulignano, Valeria (2002). "Restructuring of work and union representation: A developing framework for workplace industrial relations in Britain and Italy" (PDF). Capital & Class. 26 (1): 29–64. doi:10.1177/030981680207600102. S2CID 154285820.
  7. ^ Bonazzi, Giuseppe; La Rosa, Michele; Pulignano, Valeria (2002). "Sociologia Del Lavoro N. 86-87, 2002: Organizational Studies: the State of the Debate in Italy and Great Britain". Work, Employment and Society. 16 (4): 739–743. doi:10.1177/095001702321587451. S2CID 154867606.
  8. ^ Pulignano, Valeria; Meardi, Guglielmo; Doerflinger, Nadja (2015). "Trade unions and labour market dualisation: A comparison of policies and attitudes towards agency and migrant workers in Germany and Belgium" (PDF). Work, Employment and Society. 29 (5): 808–825. doi:10.1177/0950017014564603. S2CID 154961191.
  9. ^ Pulignano, Valeria; Stewart, Paul (2013). "Firm-level restructuring and union strategies in Europe: local union responses in Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands". Work, Employment and Society. 27 (5): 842–859. doi:10.1177/0950017013482028. S2CID 154513309.
  10. ^ Pulignano, Valeria; Signoretti, Andrea (2016). "Union strategies, national institutions and the use of temporary labour in Italian and US plants". British Journal of Industrial Relations. 54 (3): 574–596. doi:10.1111/bjir.12131. hdl:11572/144547. S2CID 152822641.
  11. ^ Pulignano, Valeria (2018). "Precariousness, Regime Competition and the Case of Europe". Research in the Sociology of Work. 31: 33–60. doi:10.1108/S0277-283320170000031001. ISBN 978-1-78743-288-8.
  12. ^ Pulignano, Valeria; Doerflinger, Nadja; De Franceschi, Fabio (2016). "Flexibility and security within European labor markets: the role of local bargaining and the different 'trade-offs' within multinationals' subsidiaries in Belgium, Britain and Germany". Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 69 (3): 605–630. doi:10.1177/0019793916628862. S2CID 155609172.
  13. ^ Pulignano, Valeria; Carrieri, Domenico; Baccaro, Lucio (2018). "Industrial relations in Italy in the twenty-first century". Employee Relations. 40 (4): 654–673. doi:10.1108/ER-02-2017-0045.
  14. ^ "Academische Stichting Leuven". Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  15. ^ "Titleholders". www.francquifoundation.be. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  16. ^ "Associate Fellows". warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/research/irru/. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  17. ^ "CRIMT Coresearchers". www.crimt.org. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  18. ^ "Board Members". www.europeansociology.org/research-networks/rn17-work-employment-and-industrial-relations. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  19. ^ "Board of Directors". hiva.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  20. ^ "Advisory Boards". www.wei.manchester.ac.uk/about/our-people/. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  21. ^ "International Advisory Board". cergu.gu.se/english/Contact/international-advisory-board/. Retrieved 2019-03-07.

External links edit