Work and Vulnerability in Times of Polycrises
Work and Vulnerability in Times of Polycrises

Summary/Abstract: The article is an introduction to thematic issue and as such explores the intersections of work and vulnerability in times of polycrises. It examines how market transformations, migration, war, and the COVID-19 pandemic jointly reshape contemporary labor and workers’ lived experiences. Drawing on the framework of social vulnerability, the issue links individual precarity to structural inequalities and welfare retrenchment, emphasizing the state’s role in protection and inclusion through the European Pillar of Social Rights. The concept of a polycrisis highlights how multiple disruptions – pandemic, war, and economic instability – mutually reinforce each other, leading to a crisis of social reproduction. The collected articles analyse diverse cases: the professional redefinition and social boundaries of care-related occupations, marketization, precarious employment, and biographical experiences of inequality. Collectively, they show that crises have become enduring contexts structuring work, identity, and social belonging, offering a deeper sociological understanding of vulnerability in the contemporary world of labor.

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