No abstract

The article discusses the working conditions and employment of American working youth during the global pandemic (2020) within the discursive space of the online communities of the social network Reddit. The aim of the study was to conduct a discourse-analysis of professional virtual communities of American working youth. The main tasks were to analyze the specifics of the language of online communication of American working youth, to identify the main problems of employment and labor relations relevant to young Americans, to find out how much American working youth identify with the working class, and to study its class interests, class positions and feelings of solidarity. Infrequent (basic) and frequent (additional) content analyses were used to analyze empirical information (143 text and visual posts in 11 communities of the social network Reddit). The results of the study draw conclusions about the presence of a specific language of communication, similar conditions of employment and living standards, the stability of class positions and the high level of virtual solidarity of American working youth. Comparison of the data obtained with the results of our previous study of virtual communities of Russian working youth allows us to tell about the similarities and differences between American and Russian youth. The main common feature characteristic of both (American and Russian) working youth is the presence of their own group identity.

No abstract

The object of the research is the shift of the theoretical accents of the main focus of the analysis from the consideration of an integral system of labor relations in the field of industrial production to the analysis of "deformed" labor relations in the field of customer service, which has occurred in the last decade. The thesis on the prospects of turning to a new interdisciplinary approach, synthesizing the provisions of neo-Marxist (conflict) and cultural approaches in the analysis of labor relations in organizations in the field of customer service is considered. This article aims to consider the specifics of the content of labor relations in the field of customer service, based on empirical studies carried out with the participation of the author within the framework of the project “Life strategies of young people – the new working class in modern Russia” in 2018-2021. The author uses general scientific and special research methods, including sociological analysis of quantitative (mass questionnaire-based survey) and qualitative (focus group and biographical interview) data. The data obtained in customer service organizations allow us to draw conclusions about the informal nature of labor relations, the absence of trade unions, collective bargaining and solidarity among service sector workers, practices of irregular working hours due to the presence or absence of customers and strict control of emotions and labor operations of working personnel by the employer. With the beginning of the pandemic period in 2020, the risks associated with their dismissal, unpaid leave, shorter working hours, etc., have significantly increased for young workers employed in customer service organizations. The results of the study may be useful to public authorities for the development of a socio-economic program to support employment and the effective use of labor resources in the field of customer service.

The article is devoted to the generalization of the experience accumulated by our research group in the research of virtual communities of the working youth (2019-2021). The purpose of the article is to construct a comprehensive methodology for the socio-logical monitoring of social networks of the working youth. The main research objectives were: to analyze modern approaches to conducting monitoring research (including on the Internet); based on the methodology of discourse analysis, to consider the use of methods of frequent and infrequent content analysis for processing the collected information in monitoring mode; to present the stages of monitoring communities of the working youth in social networks, using the example of research conducted within the framework of the project Life strategies of young people referring to the new working class in modern Russia. As a part of the empirical data analysis, the results of a study of virtual communities and social networks groups of the Russian working youth in the field of customer service in the VKontakte social network, carried out in 2021 (6 virtual communities, 133 text posts and the most popular memes) are presented in detail. The stability of thematic categories of virtual group communication in comparison with previous studies and the presence of group identity among Russian working youth referring to the custom service sphere. Conclusions are made regarding the preference of a non-automated approach to the collection and analysis of social network content; about the validity of using the methodology of discourse analysis and content analysis methods for the research of youth social networks in the mode of sociological monitoring.