The Deconstruction of Employment As a Political Question : 'Employment' As a Floating Signifier

The wide-ranging European perspectives brought together in this volume 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’. Changes in the production models, economic downturn and increasing digitalisation have triggered a breakdown in the terms and assumptions that previously defined and shaped the notion of employment. This has made it more difficult to discuss, and problematise, issues like vulnerability in employment in such terms as unfairness, inequality and inadequate protection. Taking the ‘deconstruction of employment’ as a central idea for theorising the phenomenon of work today, this volume explores the emergence of new semantic fields and territories for understanding and regulating employment. These new linguistic categories have implications beyond language alone: they reformulate the very concept of waged employment (including those aspects previously considered intrinsic to the meaning of work and of being ‘a worker’), along with other closely associated categories such as unemployment, self-employment, and inactivity. Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Introduction: The Political Reinvention of Work in Times of Crisis (Amparo Serrano-Pascual, Maria Jepsen)....Pages 1-29 Front Matter ....Pages 31-31 Outsourcing, Offshoring and the Deconstruction of Employment: New and Old Challenges (Jan Drahokoupil, Brian Fabo)....Pages 33-61 New Forms of Work and Employment in the Digital Economy (Gérard Valenduc)....Pages 63-80 The Deconstruction of Employment and the Crisis of Citizenship in Europe (Luis Enrique Alonso)....Pages 81-106 The Decline of the Worker as Collective Subject (Vicente Sánchez Jiménez)....Pages 107-127 Front Matter ....Pages 129-129 The Employment Relationship, Atypical Forms of Employment and Protection Standards in the European Union (Antonio Baylos)....Pages 131-148 Self-Employment and the Transformation of Employment Relationships in Europe (Alberto Riesco-Sanz)....Pages 149-178 The Blurring of Employment Boundaries: A Social Economy Perspective (Sarah de Heusch)....Pages 179-198 The Marketisation of Public Employment and Public Services and Its Impact on Civil Servants and Citizens (Jean-Michel Bonvin)....Pages 199-219 Front Matter ....Pages 221-221 The Boundaries of Unemployment Institutional Rules and Real-Life Experiences (Didier Demazière)....Pages 223-245 Can We Still Speak the Language of Unemployment? Some Reflections Based on the French Experience (Michel Lallement)....Pages 247-270 Counting Working Women in France: The Figures Are Political (Margaret Maruani, Monique Meron)....Pages 271-290 Transformation in the Meaning of Work Beyond the Institutional Sphere: The View from the Standpoint of Gender Relations and Differences (Carlos Prieto, Sofía Pérez de Guzmán)....Pages 291-315 Conclusion (Amparo Serrano-Pascual, Maria Jepsen)....Pages 317-340 Back Matter ....Pages 341-344 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.-- Provided by publisher