Crisis, austerity and the normalisation of precarity in Spain – in academia and beyond

Abstract

Austerity politics and labour reforms in Spain have intensified the precaritization of employment, both inside and outside academia. Drawing on the cases of two highly educated young women, this paper suggests an analysis of academic precarity that focuses on the intertwining of the academic and the non-academic world of work in (re)producing precarity. In Spain, a less precarious alternative to precarity in academia is often nonexistent, putting young academics in a situation of blackmail to accept precarious conditions. Consequently, precarity is increasingly normalised. Yet, the process of the normalisation of precarity is understood not only as the growth of precarious jobs and the lack of alternatives, but, more fundamentally, as a shift in the perception of what can be legitimately claimed or expected within employment relations more generally.

Experiences of precarious work within higher education institutions: a qualitative evidence synthesis

“…Participants reported worries of job insecurity, lack of career prospects, insufficient pay and lack of economic and social security, increasing competition and the burden of continuous job applications because of the temporary nature of their employment status (Allmer, 2018). Experiences of academics employed in precarious roles include-pay not sufficient to cover the basic cost of living; non-paid work; negotiating precarious professional development opportunities; lack of professional recognition and development (Schwaller, 2019). Non-tenure track instructors perceive themselves as "heavy-lifters" in the academy with frequently high workloads from various high-enrollment courses (Miller and Struve, 2020) Precariously employed academics experience blurred lines between work and personal lives…”

Replication and Reproduction: Crises in Psychology and Academic Labour

“…Decreases in public expenditure on research following the crisis (OECD, 2021) were accompanied, in many countries, by austerity policies and labour reforms that exacerbated on-going tendencies in the organisation and practices of university research. These increased and intensified: the use of precarious contracts and the adjunctification of research; workloads and productivity expectations; the ‘projectification’ of research; the introduction of new forms of digital labour and the further entanglement of private companies in the assemblage making up higher education (Herschberg et al, 2018; Komljenovic, 2019; Schwaller, 2019). It is difficult to track how exactly those working in the psychological sciences have been affected, not least because data are not always available to understand shifts in the use of postdoctoral, fixed-term and other kinds of casualized positions, nor what those inhabiting those positions go on to do (Woolston, 2020).…”

Capitalismo digital: fragilidad social, explotación y solucionismo tecnológico

“…El final de la primera década del siglo XXI supuso la quiebra del modelo neoliberal como proyecto hegemónico mundial. A partir de 2008, la denominada Gran Recesión estableció nuevas coordenadas políticas caracterizadas por la normalización de la precariedad laboral (Schwaller, 2019) y vital y el ascenso de movimientos iliberales con un marcado sesgo nacionalista e identitario . En un primer momento, esa crisis del proceso globalizador no afectó a la utopía tecnológica.…”