Novel Approaches to Labor Market and Health Research in an Era of Techno-Feudalism and Reconfiguring of Geopolitical Powers

Dear Colleagues,

Labor markets worldwide are currently experiencing significant changes, especially due to the increasing influence of big technological companies and geopolitical power reconfigurations. Over the last few years, various new forms of employment, collectively referred to as non-standard employment, have emerged. Examples of non-standard employment include temporary, seasonal, part-time, or on-call employment, disguised or dependent self-employment, indirect or multi-party employment arrangements, and remote or home-based work. While these new forms of employment can enable more individuals to enter the labor market, they also present significant challenges regarding employment quality, the work environment, and the health, safety, and wellbeing of workers. This Special Issue will cover a range of potential topics related to non-standard employment and its impact on worker health and wellbeing. The topics that will be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Novel methodological approaches to studying non-standard employment and the related health outcomes, such as using new indicators or linked databases and interdisciplinary collaborations to advance research, disseminate knowledge, and implement solutions;
• Recent trends in non-standard forms of employment and their effects on worker health and wellbeing;
• Factors that trigger and facilitate non-standard employment and their relationship with worker health and wellbeing;
• Less explored forms of non-standard employment, including digital or platform labor, dependent self-employment, algorithmic governance, and remote or home-based work, and their relationship with worker health and wellbeing;
• Barriers to applying labor and occupational health and safety legislation in non-standard forms of employment;
• How non-standard forms of employment interact with worker health and wellbeing;
• The differential impact of non-standard forms of employment on worker health and wellbeing based on occupation, sector, geographical location, gender, age, education, social class, ethnicity, or immigration status;
• The cumulative and long-term effects of non-standard forms of employment on worker health and wellbeing;
• Potential solutions to address non-standard employment arrangements, including legislation, policies, and other interventions aimed at improving workers' employment security, income adequacy, and workplace rights and protections.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Prof. Dr. Carles Muntaner
Dr. Virginia Gunn
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.