Mark Bergfeld

E-Mail: m.d.bergfeld@qmul.ac.uk Telephone (UK): +44752310xxxx

Personal website: www.mdbergfeld.com Telephone (Germany) +491754562xxxx
Nationality: German Languages: English, German, French

Education and Employment

Jan 2015 present PhD Business & Management, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Arts and Humanities Research Fellowship (3 years)

My PhD thesis investigates how im/migrant workers organise in their workplaces and communities in Berlin, London,
and New York. The comparative analysis draws on 116 semi-structured interviews and more than 200 hours of
participant observation across three sites. The interviews were transcribed and coded in NVIVO. As part of this PhD
research, I was a visiting scholar at the ILR School of Cornell University and spent four months in Berlin, Germany.
The dissertation finds that im/migrant worker organizations use direct democracy, develop leadership, and engage in
coalition-building to counter employer malpractices, marginalization by trade unions and racialization in the labour
market.

2014 15 Researcher, QML Centre for Equality and Diversity & Trade Union Congress (TUC), UK

A collaborative research project with Prof Geraldine Healy for the TUC Equality Unit. As part of this project I
synthesized and summarised existing literature on trade union organising projects in the UK. It included extensive
online research on union activities for women, the writing-up of case studies and drawing out practical evidence-based
conclusions. The final project The organising challenges presented by the increased casualisation of womens work
(2016) has led to invitations at two organising roundtables at Unison and has been cited three times to date (google
scholar).

2013 14 MRes with Distinction, Business & Management, QML & Goldsmiths College, UK

As part of the MRes I completed qualitative and quantitative research trainings with a distinction and a high merit
respectively. In Comparative Employment Relations, I wrote a research paper on community unionism which has 286
views on academia.edu. I have held guest lectures in that same course two years in a row. My high marks and my
15,000-word dissertation Leaderless leaders? Typologies of Leadership in Southern European Activism in London
meant that I received three offers for fully-funded PhDs and led to a research collaboration with Prof Geraldine Healy
for the above-mentioned TUC project. The findings of the dissertation were presented at the conference Studying Social
Movements Against EU Austerity at Roskilde University, Denmark.

2009 11 Master of Arts with Merit, Media, Culture & Society, Sociology Dept., University of Essex, UK

My dissertation was titled An Ethnography of the COP-15 and the Emergence of the Climate Justice Movement
and included participant observation at the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009 and climate activism.
A paper based on the dissertation was published in the Essex Graduate Journal of Sociology (cited five times on
google scholar).

2006 09 Bachelor Arts (Honours), Philosophy, Politics & Economics, University of Essex, UK

During my undergraduate degree, I read 19th/20th Century Continental Philosophy with Prof Patrice Maniglier and
Political Theory/Political Sociology with staff from the Essex School of Ideology and Discourse Analysis (IDA).
Following my first-year I was selected to participate in Prof Anthony Kings prestigious study group as one of ten
students across the entirety of the Government Department. In my economic studies, I focused on issues surrounding
globalization and international trade/financial institutions. I served as an executive member and trustee of Essex
Students Union for four years.

2006 Bilingual Abitur 1.7 (IB 38), Gymnasium Stadt Kerpen Europaschule, Germany

Prizes, Awards & Grants

2015-18 Queen Mary Arts and Humanities PhD Research Fellowship (17,000 p.a.)
2016 Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Travel Grant for workshop attendance in Gttingen, Germany (150)
 2016 LabourStart & UFCW Travel Grant to attend Global Solidarity Conference ($500)
2016 School of Business and Management Travel Grant for fieldwork in New York City, USA (2000)
2015 Travel Grant Transform! Europe for conference attendance in Roskilde, Denmark (300)
2015 Center for Economic Research and Social Change (Chicago, IL, USA) Travel Grant for Conference ($500)
Teaching

Graduate Teaching

Nov 16 Comparative Employment Relations (BUS016), QMUL, School of Business and Management
Designed and held lecture/seminar on Globalization, the ILO and International Framework Agreements.
Assisted with the module development by finding current videos.
Feb 16 Media Theory, Univ. of Westminster, CAMRI Communication & Media Research Institute
Designed and held lecture/seminar on Castellss Communication Power and case study on refugees,
network power and social media.
Nov 15 Comparative Employment Relations (BUS016), QMUL, School of Business and Management
Designed and held lecture/seminar on Migration, Employment Practices, and Trade Unions.

Undergraduate Teaching

Jan-Apr 17 Work & Employment in Context (BUS124/132), QMUL

Prepared and taught six seminar groups on a weekly basis. Designed and held one lecture on
representation at work. Advised students on essay outlines and marked 200 student essays.
Nov/Dec 16 Employment Relations (BUS320), QMUL
Was invited to design and hold two guest lectures and three seminars on labour conflicts, the gig economy
and contemporary employment relations.
Jan-Apr 16 Employment Relations (BUS320), QMUL
Module and seminar design, six hours of weekly teaching, two lectures, and weekly office hours.
Academic Responsibilities and Outreach
2017- Journal Reviewer
Peer-reviews for Global Labour Journal and Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe
2015- Book reviewer & Research Consultant, Verso Books
Research and review of new German sociology books for possible translation into English
2015- Creator & Administrator of Facebook group on work and labour issues (732 members)
Selection of daily/weekly readings of academic and non-academic articles for a specialist audience
2010-12 National Executive Council of the National Union of Students (NUS)
Selected Academic Publications
Journal Articles
Bergfeld, Mark (2017) Germanys Willkommenskultur: Trade Unions, Refugees and Labour Market Integration, Global
Labour Journal, 8(1) 2017 (409 views on journal webpage; 56 views/19 Bookmarks on academia.edu)
Bergfeld, Mark (2010) Copenhagen: The Birth of the Climate Justice Movement, Essex Graduate Journal of Sociology, Vol.
10 (5 citations on google scholar)
Research Reports
Healy, Geraldine & Bergfeld, Mark (2016) The organising challenges presented by the increased casualisation of womens
work, Trades Union Congress (3 citations on google scholar)
Book chapters
Bergfeld, Mark (forthcoming) Vom individuellen zum kollektiv organisierten Widerstand? Erfahrungen einer spanischen
Migrantin in der privaten Pflege in Deutschland, Sorge-Kmpfe, VSA Verlag
Bergfeld, Mark (2016) Germany in the Eye of the Storm, Europe in Revolt Mapping the New European Left, Haymarket
Bergfeld, Mark (2016) Youre Either a Flower in the Dustbin or the Spark That Lights a Fire: On Precarity and Student
Protests, Academic Labour, Unemployment and Global Higher Education, Palgrave Macmillan
Bergfeld, Mark (2014) The Role of anarchists in Occupy, Eds. Stuart Price & Ruth Sanz Sabido Contemporary Protest
and the Legacy of Dissent, Rowman & Littlefield

Encyclopaedic entries
 Bergfeld, Mark (2015) Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919), Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

Selected Academic Book Reviews

Bergfeld, Mark (forthcoming) Left-of-Centre Parties and Trade Unions in the Twenty-First Century, Elin Haugsgjerd
Allern, Tim Bale, British Journal of Industrial Relations
Bergfeld, Mark (forthcoming) Karl Renner eine politische Biografie, Richard Saage, East Central Europe
Bergfeld, Mark (2013) We Are Many: Reflections on Movement Strategy, Eds. Laura Khatib & The Democracy Project,
David Graeber, Contention Journal The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest, Vol.(1)1 2013
Bergfeld, Mark (2013) Media Practice and Protest Politics: How Precarious Workers Mobilise, Alice Mattoni, Interface
Journal a journal about and for social movements, Vol (5)2 2013

My reports, features and opinion pieces have been featured in following outlets: LabourNet Germany, Al-Jazeera
English, New Statesman, Adbusters, Jacobin Magazine, telesur.tv, Ricochet Media, Cornell ILR website, RC44-short
pieces, Berlin Review of Books, MRZine, RT.com, Neues Deutschland, German Protestant Church website (EKD),
Canadian Dimension

Conference Proceedings, Talks and Presentations (*invited)

Conference Proceedings
Regulating for Decent Work Conference, International Labour Organisation (ILO) & Amsterdam
Jul 17 Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, Geneva, Switzerland*
Presentation of working paper Community Through Corporatization? The case of Spanish nurses in
Germanys care industry
Jun 17 British Universities Industrial Relations Association Conference, Portsmouth Business School
Presentation of working paper Im/migrant worker democracy: A comparative study of im/migrant
worker organisations in UK, Germany and US
Revaluing the Mundane: a conversation about common concerns, Second radical social innovation
May 17 colloquium, QML School of Business & Management
Presentation of working paper on migration and care work in Germany
Sep 16 Work Employment Society Conference, Leeds University Business School
Presented my paper on Spanish care workers and labour organization and subsequently invited to write an
article for WES special issue on solidarities
May 16 Historical Materialism Conference, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada*
Main panelist to discuss book Solidarity without Borders Gramscian Perspectives on Migration and
Civil Society (Pluto, 2016)
May 16 LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada*
Invited to speak on my PhD research to international trade unionists
Mar 16 Alternative Futures and Popular Protest Conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Presented my working paper From the squares to the workplace: A case study of the 15M GAS
Dec 15 Whither all the classes? Conference, ICDD, University of Kassel, Germany
Presented my working paper Migration, Racism and Class Struggle Toward A Theoretical Approach
May 15 Studying Social Movements Against EU Austerity, Roskilde University, Denmark
Presented my MRes dissertation Leaderless leaders? Typologies of leadership in Southern European
activist networks in London
May 15 CERIC Doctoral Conference, Leeds University Business School
Presented my paper on Precarity, student protests and labour organization. The paper was subsequently
published in the edited volume Academic Labour, Unemployment and Global Higher Education
Neoliberal Policies of Funding and Management (Palgrave).
Nov13 MeCCSA Social Movements Network Generations of Protest Conference, De Montfort University
Presented my draft paper The role of anarchists in Occupy which subsequently was published in the
edited volume Contemporary Protest and the Legacy of Dissent (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)
Academic Workshops & Research Seminars
Mar 17 Centre on Labour and Global Production, QMUL, London, UK
Presented my PhD research at the monthly workshop
Nov 16 Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut (SOFI) Gttingen, Germany*
 Presentation of my paper on the individual and collective dimensions of labour resistance among Spanish
nurses in German care industries at an authors workshop for an edited volume.
Sep15/16 PhD Symposium, School of Business and Management, QML, UK
Yearly presentation of my PhD research to staff and students within the School
May 16 The ILR School of Cornell University, Ithaca, NYC, USA*
Presented my working paper Self-Organization of migrant workers in Berlin and London which led to
me writing an article on Islamophobia and Employment Discrimination for the Cornell ILR website.
Mar 16 Arbeitskreis Arbeitskmpfe, University of Kassel*
Invited to present my research to working group on labour conflicts after conference at Kassel University

External Engagements
Feb 16
/Mar 17 EMAR Easdale Foundation for Labour Research, London, UK*
Talk on migration and class in post-Brexit Britain to an audience of international labour scholars and
trade unionists. Invitation followed previous presentation on guest workers and labour unions in 1970s
West Germany at EMAR in Feb 16.
Feb 17 Transnational Social Strike Platform, London, UK*
Panelist at the workshop Migrants, wage disparities and institutional racism
Dec
15/16 GAS - Gruppo Accion Sindical, Berlin, Germany*
Presentation to Spanish labour activists on history of guest workers in West Germany (15) and about my
research with worker centers in NYC, USA (16)
Jun 16 Verso Books and Jacobin Magazine, Brooklyn, NYC, USA*
Participant in panel discussion of book launch Europe in Revolt Mapping the New European Left
(Haymarket Books, 2016) which contains a chapter of mine
Jun 16 Tadamon! & Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC-CTI), Montral, Canada*
Invited to speak on the British EU referendum and the implications for immigrants and labour. This led to
me giving several interviews in local Montral press and writing an Op-ed piece for Ricochet Media
Apr 16 "Organizing for Empowerment", KNSB Trade Union, Sofia, Bulgaria*
Presentation and Q&A on working paper Power resources of migrant workers: Case studies from
Germany and the UK. Invitation following participation at ETUI workshop in Budapest, Hungary
Sep 15 EurHope? 3-day meeting on workers and new welfare, GUE/NGL, Bari, Italy*
Panel discussion labour and immigration in the EU. Invitation due to research.
May 15 Kulturpolitiska Veckan, Smlands Nation, Lund, Sweden*
Presentation and Q&A about precarity and alternative labour organization at cultural festival.
Nov 14 Organising Roundtable, Unison, London, UK*
Roundtable discussion with Unison Organising Department on co-written TUC report

Memberships
British Sociological Association; British Universities Industrial Relations Association; Centre for Equality and
Diversity, QML School of Business and Management; Centre on Global Production and Labour, QML Geography &
School of Business and Management
Hobbies and Interests
Running; Basketball; Poetry and Fiction; Cooking
References
Please E-Mail for references