Political economy of production and labour

Organized by Scuola Normale Superiore the Spring School is funded by the PNRR through the MERITA, the network for talent project*.

Date: March 16 – 20, 2026
Location: Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence
Total hours: 35
Max participants: 50
Language: English, with a session held in Italian
Application deadline: 31 January 2026
Target audience: Undergraduate, Master's and PhD student; post-docs and early-career researchers; people operating in civil society, trade unions, NGO in the area of labour, economic inequalities, development. 

The school aims to combine methods and theories from political economy and labour studies for the study of changes in the economy and employment in today's world and will offer tools to understand the governance of value chains, industrial policies, and labour markets, set against the backdrop of world political and economic systems instability and environmental and social sustainability concerns. It will employ an interdisciplinary approach, combining perspectives from international political economy, labour economics, industrial relations, gender studies, political ecology, and the sociology of work.

Organized over five days, each day will address a specific theme, featuring lectures by senior scholars and presentations by experts on case studies. PhD students may have the opportunity to present and discuss their research projects with lecturers and participants. Participants are asked to read course material in advance, actively participate in discussions and laboratories during the school, and write a short essay on a topic to be agreed upon with the instructors. 

Applicants must submit an application using the form no later than January 31, 2026 and attached a statement of interest describing the motivation and study interests (max. 2 pages). 

Participation in the School does not entail enrollment fees.
Admission to the school includes participation in the lectures, the educational material, and one social dinner.
 

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* MERITA, the network for talent project is the result of a collaboration between five Italian academic institutions: the Scuola Normale Superiore, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, the Collegio Superiore dell’Università di Bologna, the Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori dell’Università di Padova and the Scuola Superiore di Studi Avanzati della Sapienza Università di Roma.
The MERITA project is funded within the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 – Istruzione e Ricerca, Componente 1, Investimento 3.4 "Didattica e competenze universitarie avanzate"- "Rafforzamento delle Scuole universitarie superiori". (National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 1, Investment 3.4 "Advanced university teaching and competences" - "Enhancement of the institutions for higher education").

IMG CC pexels-patrick bevan