22 – 25 July 2027: Quezon City, Philippines

22 July 2027: Opening and Online/Onsite | 23-24 July: Onsite |

25 July 2027: Closing and Exposure Trips

The Working-Class Studies Association (WCSA) calls for proposals for its annual conference which will be held primarily in-person at the Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines), from 22–25 July 2027, with an online presentation component happening on the first day of the conference, 22 July 2027.

Conference Theme

Gawâ (Work) is a term in Filipino which calls attention to the complexity of laboring hands. In the Philippines and in the diaspora, the work of laboring hands ranges from those of millions of farmers, factory workers, service industry workers, migrant workers, cultural workers, and many others, who are all subject to precarious and untenable conditions. The WCSA 2027 conference, hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University, thus engages with the theme of Gawâ which generatively and capaciously also refers broadly but not limited to: (a) the ways in which body and intellect are used to fulfill aims; (b) a finished work or act resulting from labor from a person, organization, sector, or class; and (c) the use of strength to overcome resistance and impediments. In other words, the conference seeks to unpack the manifold and intersecting dimensions of work and labor as they are manifested—historically and in the present day—in academic, cultural, professional, industrial, agricultural, formal and informal contexts, be it in contested and complementary national and transnational spaces.

This conference is timely in an age of interrelated problems such as the increasing global wealth disparity, rise of right-wing authoritarianism and fascism, and the climate crisis exacerbated by extractions for artificial intelligence infrastructures and by existing neocolonial relations, where labor becomes a central and crucial concern. The location of the conference is likewise fitting insofar as it brings Global South problems up close. Given these conditions, and guided by the hope of building and sustaining affinities and solidarities between and across multiple sectors, the WCSA 2027 conference invites proposals for individual papers, panels, and workshops from scholars, scholar-activists, and cultural workers.

Proposals for individual paper presentations, panels, workshops, performances or exhibitions can address any—but not be confined to—these topics:

• Working-Class Movements in the Global South and the Global North
• Labor in Multinational/Transnational Corporations
• Agricultural and Industrial Labor
• Precarious and Freelance Work in the Gig Economy
• Precarious Labor in the Informal Economy
• Migrant Work, Farmwork, and Labor Export
• Hospitality, Service, Food and Tourism Industry Work
• Domestic Work and Care Work
• Gender, Sexuality, and Bodily Labor
• Work in the Transportation Sector
• Union Organizing and Labor History
• Scholarly, Literary, and Cultural Production from Working-Class Perspectives
• Challenges on Being a Scholar-Activist
• Labor and Artificial Intelligence

Please see the call for proposals in PDF if you would like to circulate it to your networks: GAWÂ 2027 WCSA Conference CFP

Please submit proposals by 1 December 2026 via this form. Applicants will be notified of results by late January 2027. All presenters must become WCSA members to register and present at the conference. Please limit proposals to no more than two per person. Proposals must include:

• Name, affiliation, and contact details for all participants
• Title of proposed presentation, panel, workshop, performance, or exhibit. Panel proposals must include a confirmation of willingness to participate from all proposed members.
• Abstract of approximately 250 words
• Indication of intention to present in-person or as part of the Zoom track

For inquiries, kindly email Vincenz Serrano and Jeffrey Cabusao, WCSA 2027 conference committee co-chairs, at wcsaconference2027@gmail.com.