A tradition of sociological research that goes back to the
1930s (Lazarsfeld et al., 1932) has constantly pointed out
the diversity of reactions in the face of job deprivation and
the consequent differences in the life stories of the persons
concerned. In this sense, the category of unemployment –
which differs from professional activity in that it implies
being deprived of that activity, and from professional inactivity
in that it implies actively seeking employment – can
sustain a variety of interpretations: the people categorized
as unemployed attribute various significations to their own
situation and adhere to different sorts of identifications (...)
