Edited by Hermes Augusto Costa (professor at FEUC and researcher at CES), this volume is the result of the colooquium of the same name organised by the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra as part of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC).

This book places ‘work’ at the centre of a collective reflection aimed at critically analysing the economic and social dynamics of our time. It is divided into four parts – i) processes of acceleration; ii) social dialogue and polarisation; iii) thematic sections (on the Portuguese economy, clashes between the old and the new in the world of work, discrimination and inequalities, and the reconfigurations of social dialogue); iv) neoliberal drift and labour relations – it brings together, through presentations, commentary and debate, multidisciplinary perspectives on contemporary labour realities.

The volume brings together contributions from FEUC professors and CES researchers, as well as from other institutions (Friedrich Schiller, ISCTE, FDUC, FLUP, UMinho, ISEG, UNL, CoLABOR, FESETE).

The book is introduced by Lina Coelho (economist, professor at FEUC and CES researcher) and by Jorge Caleiras (sociologist, senior official at the Aveiro Social Security Institute and researcher at CIES-ISCTE).