The DIGCLASS Project
The DIGCLASS project is born out of increasing concern in Europe about the implications of the digital revolution for social inequalities and democratic processes. The project will revise and update the rich tradition of social class analysis in social sciences to apply it to current socioeconomic structures in Europe. It will propose new taxonomies and analytic tools for social class analysis and apply them to contemporary phenomena such as the decline of the middle class and job polarisation, the effects of digital technologies on inequalities and life chances or the emergence of new types of economic relations.
The objective is to provide a better understanding of how digital technologies alter the mechanisms that generate inequalities in the distribution of resources and life chances, which is crucial for social policies to respond to the challenges of the digital revolution.
DIGCLASS is one of the very few Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) projects hosted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) at the European Commission. The JRC is the Commission’s science and knowledge production in-house service. It is a Directorate-General (DG) of the European Commission. It informs and supports EU policies with independent research throughout the whole policy cycle. Within the JRC, the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) aims to enhance the JRC’s
capabilities to better understand and address complex and long-term societal challenges that the EU faces. The CAS project is hosted in Unit A5 (Scientific Development), and also includes members of Unit B4 (Human Capital & Employment).
Kick-off Workshop
The kick-off workshop will bring together 13 high-profile international experts on social inequality from different social science disciplines to discuss technological change and inequality, two topics directly under the European Commission’s priorities. The objective is to generate synergies with leading experts and institutions globally on these two key areas to feed the policy process relevant for the Commission.
The programme will be structured around four overarching questions:
- Are existing systems of social protection adequate for the digital age?
- Are contemporary societies still class-based?
- How are digital technologies transforming the social structure?
- Does socioeconomic position still drive political outcomes?
Each of the questions will be addressed by three to four experts in a round table format. Thus, the workshop will offer a very stimulating debate on the implications of technological change for social inequalities, aiming to promote collaborations between leading experts and institutions globally to feed the policy process for the Commission.
Access
Join from the meeting link:
https://ecconf.webex.com/ecconf/j.php?MTID=m396a7ea45eda1fe353363f38d3b…
Join from the web streaming links:
Tuesday, September 21st
https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/kick-off-workshop-of-the-new-cas-project-social-classes-in-the-digital-age-2021-09-21
Wednesday, September 22nd
https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/kick-off-workshop-of-the-new-cas-project-social-classes-in-the-digital-age-2021-09-22