The Deconstruction of Employment as a Political Question [electronic resource] : 'Employment' as a Floating Signifier /
Serrano-Pascual, Amparo.editor.
Jepsen, Maria.editor.
The wide-ranging European perspectives collected here aim to analyse, by means of an interdisciplinary approach, the numerous implications of a massive shift in the conception of “work” and the category of “worker.” Economic crisis and digitalization have exacerbated a crisis in those categories of thought and political action that previously allowed us to discuss—and problematize—vulnerability in employment in terms of unfairness, inequality, and inadequate protection. Engaging with the deconstruction of traditional employment as a central category for theorizing the phenomenon of work, this volume explores the new semantic fields and territories that have become available for theorising, understanding, and regulating employment. These new linguistic categories have implications beyond language alone: they produce a reformulation of the conventional wisdom concerning the whole category of waged employment (aspects previously taken for granted as to the meaning of work and of being “a worker”), as well as other closely associated categories such as unemployment, self-employment, or inactivity.
1. Introduction: The Political Reinvention of Work in Times of Crisis; Amparo Serrano-Pascual & Maria Jepsen- PART I Rehabilitation of the ‘Labour World’ as a Locus for Action and Intervention -- 2. Outsourcing, Offshoring and the Deconstruction Of Employment: New And Old Challenges; Jan Drahokoupil & Brian Fabo -- 3. New Forms of Work and Employment in the Digital Economy; Gerard Valenduc -- 4. The Deconstruction of Employment and the Crisis of Citizenship in Europe; Luis Enrique Alonso -- 5. The Decline of the Worker as Collective Subject, Vicente Sánchez Jiménez -- PART II: Blurring of Boundaries between Categories (Self-Employed Worker and Wage-Earner, Employment and Unemployment, Typical and Atypical Work, Formal and Informal Work) -- 6. The Employment Relationship, Atypical Forms of Employment and Protection Standards in the European Union, Antonio Baylos -- 7. Self-Employment and the Transformation of Employment Relationship in Europe; Alberto Riesco -- 8. The Blurring of Employment Boundaries: A Social Economy Perspective; Sarah de Heusch -- 9. The Marketisation of Public Employment and Public Services and Its Impact on Civil Servants and Citizens; Jean Michel Bonvin -- PART III: The Redefinition of Work and Unemployment qua Reference Category -- 10. The Boundaries of Unemployment. Institutional Rules and Real-Life Experiences; Didier Demazière -- 11. Can We Still Speak the Language of Unemployment? Some Reflections Based On the French Experience; Michel Lallement -- 12. Counting Working Women in France: The Figures Are Political; Margaret Maruani & Monique Meron -- 13.Transformation in the Meaning of Work Beyond the Institutional Sphere: The View from the Standpoint of Gender Relations and Differences; Carlos Prieto & Sofia Pérez de Guzmán -- 14. Conclusions; Amparo Serrano-Pascual & Maria Jespen.
The wide-ranging European perspectives collected here aim to analyse, by means of an interdisciplinary approach, the numerous implications of a massive shift in the conception of “work” and the category of “worker.” Economic crisis and digitalization have exacerbated a crisis in those categories of thought and political action that previously allowed us to discuss—and problematize—vulnerability in employment in terms of unfairness, inequality, and inadequate protection. Engaging with the deconstruction of traditional employment as a central category for theorizing the phenomenon of work, this volume explores the new semantic fields and territories that have become available for theorising, understanding, and regulating employment. These new linguistic categories have implications beyond language alone: they produce a reformulation of the conventional wisdom concerning the whole category of waged employment (aspects previously taken for granted as to the meaning of work and of being “a worker”), as well as other closely associated categories such as unemployment, self-employment, or inactivity.
Industrial sociology.
Labor economics.
Europe—Economic conditions.
Linguistics
Sociology of Work.
Organizational Studies, Economic Sociology.
Labor Economics.
European Economics.
Philosophy of Language.