Between Work and Nonwork: Precarious Transitions through Life Stories and Everyday Life

This paper analyzes critical transitions in work careers and the methodological implications with regard to the study of risk biographies. It analyzes contemporary work trajectories taking into account a variety of fields and spheres of life that are articulated in different ways, events, perceptions, and representations that inspire people’s action. From a methodological perspective, the paper concentrates on the development and implementation of methods for the narrative analysis of biographical transitions. The criteria used for the risk biographies analysis assume that the actor is a sense-maker who thoughtfully and retrospectively interprets the shifts and the events of his/her life, defining their coherence with his/her own principles. Moreover, a narrative approach enables both a longitudinal analysis of the biographical transitions in life stories and the analysis of everyday transitions among paid work, unpaid work, and private life

Mapping Precariousness

The condition of precariousness not only provides insights into a segment of the world of work or of a particular subject group, but is also a privileged standpoint for an overview of the condition of the social on a global scale. Because precariousness is multidimensional and polysemantic, it traverses contemporary society and multiple contexts, from industrial to class, gender, family relations as well as political participation, citizenship and migration. This book maps the differences and similarities in the ways precariousness and insecurity in employment unfold and are subjectively experienced in regions and sectors that are confronted with different labour histories, legislations and economic priorities. Establishing a constructive dialogue amongst different global regions and across disciplines, the chapters explore the shift from precariousness to precariat and collective subjects as it is being articulated in the current global crisis. This edited collection aims to continue a process of mapping experiences by means of ethnographies, fieldwork, interviews, content analysis, where the precarious define their condition and explain how they try to withdraw from, cope with or embrace it

Struggling for alternative social imaginaries. A focus on Italian organisations representing food delivery platform workers

This article focuses on contemporary social imaginaries emerging in the specific context of food delivery mediated by digital labour platforms (DLPs) in Italy. How can the dominant imaginary constructed by DLPs be challenged? Are there alternative imaginaries to the celebration of individual autonomy and extreme flexibility that can open the possibility of emancipation for platform workers? After introducing the theoretical framework on social imaginaries, technological changes, and possible paths of liberation within and from work, the article explores how the studied organisations – trade unions, grassroots groups, and cooperatives – define themselves and the workers they refer to, and the different social imaginaries they foster in contrast (or sometimes in agreement) to those promoted by DLPs. By proposing the concept of a «struggle for alternative social imaginaries», our findings – based on a multi-sited ethnography – show how the initial dominant imaginary conveyed by DLPs is progressively challenged by the multi-vocality of the counter-social imaginaries promoted by the collective actors representing platform workers

Chapter 3 Conceptualizing Precariousness:

The digital PDF of Chapter 3 is available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The word ‘precarity’ is widely used when discussing work and employment, social conditions and lived experiences, and social classes. There is not, however, a consensus on the precise meaning of the term or how it should best be used to explore social changes. Bringing together an international group of thinkers from a diverse range of fields, this book offers a distinctive and critical perspective approach to an important topic

Chapter 16 Afterword

The digital PDF of the Afterword of this title are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The word ‘precarity’ is widely used when discussing work and employment, social conditions and lived experiences, and social classes. There is not, however, a consensus on the precise meaning of the term or how it should best be used to explore social changes. Bringing together an international group of thinkers from a diverse range of fields, this book offers a distinctive and critical perspective approach to an important topic

Chapter Introduction

The digital PDF of the Introduction of this title are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The word ‘precarity’ is widely used when discussing work and employment, social conditions and lived experiences, and social classes. There is not, however, a consensus on the precise meaning of the term or how it should best be used to explore social changes. Bringing together an international group of thinkers from a diverse range of fields, this book offers a distinctive and critical perspective approach to an important topic

Re-articulating Autonomy and Solidarity. The Case of Smart: The Largest European Network of Freelance Cooperatives

This article explores how workers' autonomy is supported by Smart, the largest network of freelance cooperatives in Europe. Based primarily on ethnographic data, we argue that this case shows that workers' autonomy is not necessarily linked to being self-employed but can actually increase in the transition from the status of self-employed to that of salaried employee. In particular, we define Smart as an alternative organisation and show how over the years it has shaped spaces of autonomy for freelancers by also being able to combine autonomy with innovative forms of solidarity. In doing so, we argue that supporting autonomy has an 'alternative' potential only if we adopt a relational conception of autonomy. In the case study analysed, we show that Smart members manage to benefit from enhanced autonomy and forms of solidarity through the construction of a series of relationships, in particular with: (i) welfare institutions through the co-operative; (ii) the co-operative's staff; and (iii) other freelance members of the cooperative. This leads us – in studying a case of alternative organisation – to call for Critical Performativity projects conducted through activist ethnography, a methodological framework based on a constructive approach towards the research objects, and on interpersonal research practices, where the internal knowledge of a specific organisation is combined with the knowledge of organisational scholars in a fully collaborative research effort

Mega-parsec scale magnetic fields in low density regions in the SKA era: filaments connecting galaxy clusters and groups

The presence of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters has been well established in recent years, and their importance for the understanding of the physical processes at work in the Intra Cluster Medium has been recognized. Halo and relic sources have been detected in several tens clusters. A strong correlation is present between the halo and relic radio power and the X-ray luminosity. Since cluster X-Ray luminosity and mass are related, the correlation between the radio power and X-ray luminosity could derive from a physical dependence of the radio power on the cluster mass, therefore the cluster mass could be a crucial parameter in the formation of these sources. The goal of this project is to investigate the existence of non-thermal structures beyond the Mpc scale, and associated with lower density regions with respect to clusters of galaxies: galaxy filaments connecting rich clusters. We present a piece of evidence of diffuse radio emission in intergalactic filaments. Moreover, we present and discuss the detection of radio emission in galaxy groups and in faint X-Ray clusters, to analyze non-thermal properties in low density regions with physical conditions similar to galaxy filaments. We discuss how SKA1 observations will allow the investigation of this topic and the study of the presence of diffuse radio sources in low density regions. This will be a fundamental step to understand the origin and properties of cosmological magnetic fields.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures - to appear as part of 'Cosmic Magnetism' in Proceedings 'Advancing Astrophysics with the SKA (AASKA14)', PoS(AASKA14)10

The precariousness of knowledge workers (Part 1) : hybridisation, self-employment and subjectification

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: ERC Starting Grant 2016 project SHARE - Seizing the Hybrid Areas of work by Re-presenting self-Employment (2017-2022)In knowledge-based industries, work is circumscribed by the cognitive frames of creativity in the representations of subjects, but simultaneously demands adaptability, in a context in which deregulation and individualisation are now normal. The ethics of self-activation are therefore inextricably intertwined with the demands of intensification, standardisation and self-commodification. The first volume of this Special Issue - which is made up of two different parts - focuses on the phenomena of hybridisation, self-employment and subjectification, at the core of the experiences of precarious workers in knowledge societies. This article introduces the first part of the two-part Special Issue on the precariousness of knowledge workers