28.07.2026
Exploring the Future of Work and Offices at EASA 2026
From 21 to 24 July 2026, the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) conference, titled Anthropology: Possibilities in a Polarised World, took place in Poznań, Poland.
IRI UL representatives Prof. Dr Dan Podjed and Anja Pogladič, together with Sarah Pink from Monash University (Australia) convened a panel entitled Post-Work Societies and Futures, which was held in two parts. The first part focused primarily on the impact of artificial intelligence on work, knowledge production, and everyday life. The discussion explored how artificial intelligence is changing the organisation and understanding of work, how it is becoming integrated into everyday practices, and how it affects academic writing, knowledge production, and people’s sense of meaning. The second part focused on broader futures of work, including additional and occasional work, the future of offices as spaces of social interaction and connection, and the role of anthropologists in reshaping work environments and promoting inclusion.
As part of the panel, the IRI UL representatives presented the concept of “togetherness” in the offices of the future, along with findings from research conducted within the SONATA project. The presentation was based on fieldwork carried out in office environments in Belgium and Slovenia. It addressed the role of the office at a time when work can increasingly be performed from anywhere. The authors showed that the office remains important primarily as one of the few spaces where spontaneous and repeated encounters between colleagues still take place. This form of everyday connection, although less formal than friendship or community, makes an important contribution to employees’ wellbeing and is becoming increasingly significant in a time of growing fragmentation.
Participation in the conference also provided an opportunity to exchange research findings, strengthen international connections, and further develop anthropological perspectives on the future of work.
