25.-27.3.2015, Mannheim

Work is decisively influencing a person’s self-concept. This has been subject of sociological, psychological and philosophical discourse on theories of personal identity. In this, the fundamental difference and the simultaneous correlation of the worlds of work and of life have been recognized and diverse impacts of the (re)organization of the world of work on people’s lifestyles have been stated: these basic changes require new ways of thinking and organizing human habits, traditions, attitudes, etc.

A central characteristic of the present change in the world of work is the removal of boundaries separating work and leisure, which implies that some structures and contents of work are now being transferred to other spheres of life which are traditionally not perceived as spheres of work. Accordingly, work profoundly impacts individual lifestyles and formation of personal identity, which find their expression in auto/biographical forms: work – in the sense of a holistically understood discursive category of knowledge – shapes the writing and narrating of one’s (own) life and the presentation of one’s personality. These findings lead to a wide variety of topics concerning the relationship of work, life and identity, that are not only analyzed from sociological, psychological and historical perspectives but are also addressed by literary and linguistic studies.

Therefore, the aim of this conference is to take the multiple discursive links into account and to ask how the different dimensions of work shape the presentation of one’s (own) life. On the one hand, the conference will take a look at auto/biographies and other auto/biographical media, i.e. on genres that allow an explicit focusing on an individual’s life or on the individual as a foil for more general, epistemological reflection. On the other hand, auto/biographical forms will be taken into account, that serve as a data basis for the science of history, sociology or psychology.


Download programme here.
Download poster here.

Organizing team:
Iuditha Balint (Mannheim)
Katharina Lammers (Münster)
Kerstin Wilhelms (Münster)
Thomas Wortmann (Mannheim)

Contact: arbeit.und.autobiographie@gmail.com