Permanent Temporariness? Changes in Social Contracts in Knowledge Work

Abstract

Many sociologists have argued that work no longer plays the central role in contemporary life Key woRdsEmployment practices / knowledge workers / meaning of work / social contracts.

Without a Safety Net: Precarization Among Young Danish Employees

“…What we point to in this article is some of the concequences of being 'labor market buffers' and the experiences of being replaceable, this theme is observable in all three cases. Insecure and flexible forms of employment are also common among the highly educated (Rasmussen & Håpnes, 2012) and among other age groups, but young people remain overrepresented, as described above. In the cases above, all three interviewees perceive that their labor force is primarily regarded and valued as a commodity, and this shapes their processes of subjectification in different ways.…”

“…'Precarious work' is not an easily definable phenomenon; it includes several kinds of insecurity and vulnerability for workers, without clear definitions of exact types of working conditions (Quinlan et al, 2001;Rasmussen & Håpnes, 2012;Underhill & Quinlan, 2011). There seems, however, to exist a common understanding among researchers that insecure employment is a growing problem, especially among young, unskilled workers with limited education (Duell, 2004;Hamilton et al, 2014;MacDonald, 2007), but also among the highly educated (Rasmussen & Håpnes, 2012). In a UK context, Standing (2011) claims that a new class of workers is emerging as an increased demand for flexibility that transfers work risk and insecurity to individual workers.…”

Unge på digitale arbejdsplatforme: Prekært arbejde eller unge entreprenører?

“…Den usikkerhed og flygtighed, der er forbundet med arbejde via digitale platforme, betegnes i nogle studier som 'prekaer' (Gleerup m.fl., 2018, Standing, 2016, Weber, 2018. 'Prekarisering' af arbejdet er et flertydigt faenomen, der saetter fokus på flere former for usikkerhed og sårbarhed for arbejdstagere (Gleerup et al, 2018;Quinlan, Mayhew & Bohle, 2001;Underhill & Quinlan, 2011;Rasmussen & Håpnes, 2012). Begrebet betegner samtidig, hvordan neoliberale politikker og aendrede økonomiske forhold producerer nye former for marginalisering på arbejdsmarkedet (Casas-Cortés, 2014).…”

Uden sikkerhedsnet

“…Prekaert arbejde er et flertydigt faenomen, der saetter fokus på flere former for usikkerhed og sårbarhed for arbejdstagere, uden at der findes klare afgraensede definitioner af, hvad der udgør dette prekaere arbejde (Quinlan et al 2001;Underhill & Quinlan 2011;Rasmussen & Håpnes 2012). Der er imidlertid bred enighed om, at usikre ansaettelsesforhold er et voksende problem, og at det isaer er udbredt blandt unge, ufaglaerte og kortuddannede (Duell 2004;Hamilton et al 2014;MacDonald 2007;Mills 2004), men også findes blandt højtuddannede (Gherardi & Murgia 2013;Rasmussen & Håpnes 2012). I overensstemmelse med artiklens analytiske perspektiv definerer vi prekaert arbejde med inspiration fra Kalleberg:…”