There is an urgent need for social scientists to develop a multi-disciplinary, cross-national comparative understanding of contemporary forms of globalisation emerging in new varieties of work and employment. These provide opportunities and challenges for a range of actors within and beyond the employment relationship. Many existing accounts examine social, economic and institutional processes associated with various forms of work, paid and unpaid, including the domestic economy, sometimes utilising cross national methodologies. These are all themes with which this programme will engage.