The Deconstruction of Employment as a Political Question, 1st ed. 2019 '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.

Chapter 1: Introduction (Amparo Serrano and Maria Jepsen)

PART I Rehabilitation of the ‘Labor World’ as a Locus for Action and Deliberation

Chapter 2: Outsourcing, Offshoring And The Deconstruction Of Employment: New And Old Challenges In The Digital Economy (Jan Drahokoupil And Brian Fabo)

Chapter 3: New Forms of Work and Employment in the Digital Economy (Gerard Valenduc)

Chapter 4:  Replacement of Work-Centeredness as a Social Constructor (Vicente Sánchez Jiménez)

PART II: Blurring Of Boundaries between Categories (Self-Employed Worker, Wage-Earner; Employment/Unemployment, Typical and Atypical Work, Formal and Informal Work)

Chapter 5:  Blurring Of Social Categories With Regard To Protection Standards (Sub/Under/Self/ Employment) (Tebelia Huertas Bartolomé)

Chapter 6: Self-Employment and the Transformation of Employment Relations in Europe (Alberto Riesco)

Chapter 7: A Social Economy Perspective on the Blurring Of Boundaries of Contracts (Sarah De Heusch)

Chapter 8: The Deconstruction of Work and the Crisis of Citizenship in Europe (Luis Enrique Alonso)

Chapter 9: The Rise of the Managerial State and the Deconstruction of Employment (Jean Michel Bonvin)

PART III: The Redefinition of Work and Unemployment qua Reference Category

Chapter 10: The Boundaries of Unemployment. Institutional Rules and Real-Life Experiences (Didier Demazière)

Chapter 11: Is It Still Possible To Speak The Language Of Unemployment? Some Thoughts Based On the French Experience (Michel Lallement) 

Chapter 12: Counting the Numbers of Women at Work in France: ‘The Figure Is Political’ (Margaret Maruani and Monique Meron)

Chapter 13: Metamorphosis of the Meaning of Work beyond The Institutional Field: An Approach From The Standpoint Of Gender Relations And Differences (Carlos Prieto And Sofia Perez De Guzman)

Chapter 14: Constructing Productive Subjects: Activation, Entrepreneurship, and the Politics of ‘Potential’ (Stephan Lessenich)

Chapter 15: Conclusions (Amparo Serrano and Maria Jepsen)

Amparo Serrano-Pascual is Professor of Sociology and Social Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. 

Maria Jepsen is Director of Research at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Belgium, and Associate Professor of Labour Economics at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. 

Elaborates the interrelationship between the language and grammar of employment and the actual structures of wage-earning

Renews the current debate on the changes affecting the world of labor through an approach that is interdisciplinary and transcultural

Directly relevant to international policy proposals and discussions on the nature and extent of the changes affecting the category of work