Dimensions of precariousness: independent professionals between market risks and entrapment in poor occupational careers

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 10, Issue 2

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Dimensions of precariousness: independent professionals between market risks and entrapment in poor occupational careers

research-article

Author(s): Paolo Borghi , Guido Cavalca , Ivana Fellini

Publication date (Print): Winter 2016

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

This article looks at the multifaceted precariousness of independent professionals through a qualitative analysis based in the urban area of Milan (Italy). It supports the hypothesis that at a more advanced stage of independent professionals' careers, the analysis of precariousness as a market risk can be enriched by adding the concept of ‘entrapment’ in vulnerable working paths and working and living conditions to the definition of poor occupational careers. Entrapment can be considered as the long-lasting condition of a large and weak part of young-adult independent professionals beyond the first stages of their careers. Our fieldwork confirms the widespread fragmentation of careers and increasing difficulties for young professionals to improve their positions due to structural economic and organisational changes. Four career dynamics of independent professionals emerge from the qualitative analysis – successful, dynamic, entrapped and temporarily interrupted. Career strategies play a major role in determining successful outcomes, but social relations are confirmed as also crucially important for job success, providing professional networks, welfare support and ‘local professional integration’.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Winter 2016

Volume: 10

Issue: 2

Pages: 50-67

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.10.2.0050

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.10.2.0050

SO-VID: cb643932-9347-4a66-ba96-6844175eb2db

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

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Berton, M., S. Ricchiardi & S. Sacchi (2012) The Political Economy of Work Security and Flexibility , Bristol: The Policy Press.
Borghi, P. & G. Cavalca (2016) ‘Identità collettive tra i professionisti indipendenti. Esplorare le tentazioni corporative e le sperimentazioni di contro-soggettivazione a Milano’ in E. Armano & A. Murgia (eds) Le reti del lavoro gratuito. Spazi urbani e nuove soggettività , Roma: Ombre corte:43–58.
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Rapelli, S. (2016) Les travailleurs non-salariés pauvres , Paris: Observatoire National de la Pauvreté et de l'Exclusion Sociale.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Armano, E. & A. Murgia (2013) ‘The precariousnesses of young knowledge workers: A subject-oriented approach’, Global Discourse , 3 (3-4):486–501.

[2] Arum, R. & W. Muller, (eds) (2004) The Reemergence of Self-Employment: A Comparative Study of Self-Employment Dynamics and Social Inequality , Princeton: Princeton University Press.

[3] Barbieri, P. (1999) ‘Liberi di rischiare. Assetti istituzionali ed individualizzazione dell'offerta di lavoro autonomo’, Stato e Mercato , 2:281–308.

[4] Bertolini, S. (2003) ‘The microregulation of atypical jobs in Italy: The case of collaborators’ in I.U. Zeytinoglu (ed) Flexible Work Arrangements: Conceptualizations and International Experiences , Studies of Employment and Public Policy Series, The Hague: Kluwer Law International.

[5] Bertolini, S. (2012) Flessibilmente giovani. Percorsi lavorativi e transizione alla vita adulta nel nuovo mercato del lavoro , Bologna: Il Mulino.

[6] Berton, M., S. Ricchiardi & S. Sacchi (2012) The Political Economy of Work Security and Flexibility , Bristol: The Policy Press.

[7] Borghi, P. & G. Cavalca (2016) ‘Identità collettive tra i professionisti indipendenti. Esplorare le tentazioni corporative e le sperimentazioni di contro-soggettivazione a Milano’ in E. Armano & A. Murgia (eds) Le reti del lavoro gratuito. Spazi urbani e nuove soggettività , Roma: Ombre corte:43–58.

[8] Boutillier, S. & G. Kizaba (2011) ‘Les nouveaux entrepreneurs: une nouvelle poche de pauvreté? Essai d'analyse à partir d'une enquête de terrain’ in B. Lestrade (ed) Travail et précarité, les ‘working poor’ en Europe , Paris: L'Harmattan.

[9] Burt, R.S. (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition , Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

[10] Coleman, J.S. (1990) Foundations of Social Theory , Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

[11] Esping-Andersen, G. & M. Regini (2000) Why Deregulate Labour Markets? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[12] Fellini, I. (2010) ‘Il lavoro indipendente nell'assetto post-industriale’, Sociologia del lavoro , 118:169–82.

[13] Fraser, J. & M. Gold (2001) ‘“Portfolio workers”: Autonomy and control amongst freelance translators’, Work, Employment and Society , 15:679–97.

[14] Fullin, G. (2004) Vivere l'instabilità del lavoro , Bologna: Il Mulino.

[15] Gash, V. (2008) ‘Bridge or trap? Temporary workers' transitions to unemployment and to the standard employment contract’, European Sociological Review , 24 (5):651–66.

[16] Gorz, A. (2003) L'immatériel , Paris: Galilée.

[17] Granovetter, M. (1973) ‘The strength of weak ties’, American Journal of Sociology , 78 (6):1360–80.

[18] Horovitz, S., H. Calhoun, A. Erickson & G. Wuolo (2011) ‘America's uncounted independent workforce’, New York. Accessed April, 16, 2016 from https://workingtoday.squarespace.com/s/Americas-Uncounted-Independent-Workforce-2011.pdf.

[19] ISFOL (2013) Lavoratori autonomi: identità e percorsi formativi. I risultati di un'indagine quali-quantitativa , Roma: Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori.

[20] Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities , New York: Modern Library Editions & Random House Inc.

[21] Kalleberg, A.L. (2001) ‘Organizing flexibility: The flexible firm in a new century’, British Journal of Industrial Relations , 39 (4):479–504.

[22] Kalleberg, A.L. (2009) ‘Precarious work, insecure workers: Employment relations in transition’, American Sociological Review , 74:1–22.

[23] Kitching, J. & D. Smallbone (2008) ‘Defining and estimating the size of the UK freelance workforce’, Small Business Research Centre Report, Kingston upon Thames. Accessed August, 10, 2016 from http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/3880/.

[24] Kitching, J. & D. Smallbone (2012) ‘Exploring the UK freelance workforce 2011’, Small Business Research Centre Report, Kingston upon Thames. Accessed August, 10, 2016 from https://www.ipse.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/research/Kingston-Report-v1.pdf.

[25] Lambrecht, J. & E. Beens (2005) ‘Poverty among self-employed businesspeople in a rich country: A misunderstood and distinct reality’, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship , 10 (3):205–22.

[26] Lin, N. (1990) ‘Social resources and social mobility: A structural theory of status attainment’ in R.L. Breiger (ed) Social Mobility and Social Structure , New York: Cambridge University Press:247–71.

[27] Mandrone, E. & M. Marocco (2012) ‘La variante italiana della flessibilità’, Isfol Research Paper, 1, Rome: Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori.

[28] Mingione, E., A. Andreotti, D. Benassi, P. Borghi, G. Cavalca & I. Fellini (2014) ‘Frammentazione e individualizzazione della domanda di tutela. L'esperienza dei giovani professionisti nel milanese’, Rassegna Sindacale , 1:141–57.

[29] Morini, C. & A. Fumagalli (2010) ‘Life put to work: Towards a life theory of value’, ephemera: theory & politics in organization , 10 (3/4):234–252. Accessed August, 10, 2016 from www.ephemerajournal.org.

[30] Muehlberger, U. (2007a) Dependent Self-Employment: Workers on the Border between Employment and Self-Employment , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[31] Muehlberger, U. (2007b) ‘Hierarchical forms of outsourcing and the creation of dependency’, Organization Studies , 28 (5):709–727.

[32] Muehlberger, U. & S. Bertolini (2008) ‘The organizational governance of work relationships between employment and self-employment’, Socio-Economic Review , 6 (3):449–72.

[33] Murgia, A. (2012) ‘Between work and nonwork: Precarious transitions through life stories and everyday life’, Narrative Works: Issues, Investigations & Interventions , 2 (2):41–61.

[34] Oostveen, A., I. Biletta, A. Parent-Thirion & G. Vermeylen (2013) ‘Self-employed or not self-employed? Working conditions of “economically dependent workers?”’, Eurofound Background Paper. Accessed September, 14, 2016 from www.eurofound.europa.eu.

[35] Osnowitz, D. (2006) ‘Occupational networking as normative control. Collegial exchange among contract professionals’, Work and Occupations , 33 (1):12–41.

[36] Pedersini, R. & D. Coletto (2009) Self-Employed Workers: Industrial Relations and Working Conditions , Dublin: Eurofound.

[37] Porter, M. (2000) ‘Location, competition and economic development: Local clusters in a global economy’, Economic Development Quarterly , 14:15–34.

[38] Ranci, C., (ed) (2010) Social Vulnerability in Europe. The New Configuration of Social Risks , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[39] Ranci, C. (2012) Partite Iva. Il lavoro autonomo nella crisi italiana , Bologna: Il Mulino.

[40] Ranci, C., T. Brandsen & S. Sabatinelli, (eds) (2014) Social Vulnerability in European Cities. The Role of Local Welfare in Times of Crisis , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[41] Rapelli, S. (2012) European I-Pros: A Study , London: Professional Contractors Group.

[42] Rapelli, S. (2016) Les travailleurs non-salariés pauvres , Paris: Observatoire National de la Pauvreté et de l'Exclusion Sociale.

[43] Reyneri, E. (2011) Sociologia del mercato del lavoro. Vol. 2: Le forme dell'occupazione , Bologna: Il Mulino.

[44] Samek Lodovici, M. & R. Semenza (2008) ‘The Italian case: From employment regulation to welfare reforms?’, Social Policy & Administration , 42 (2):160–76.

[45] Scherer, S. (2004) ‘Stepping-stones or traps? The consequences of labour market entry positions on future careers in West Germany, Great Britain and Italy’, Work Employment and Society , 18 (2):369–94.

[46] Scott, A.J. (2007) ‘Capitalism and urbanization in a new key? The cognitive-cultural dimension’, Social Forces , 85 (4):1465–82.

[47] Storey, J., G. Salaman & K. Platman (2005) ‘Living with enterprise in an enterprise economy: Freelance and contract workers in the media’, Human Relations , 58 (8):1033–54.