The precariousness of knowledge workers (Part 2): forms and critiques of autonomy and self-representation

Annalisa Murgia Annalisa Murgia,Emiliana Armano Emiliana Armano,Lara Maestripieri Lara Maestripieri

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.11.1.0001

Annalisa Murgia Annalisa Murgia, Emiliana Armano Emiliana Armano + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.13169/workorgalaboglob.11.1.0001

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Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation	Publication Date: Apr 1, 2017
Citations: 1	License type: CC BY 4.0

Abstract

This article introduces the second of a two-part Special Issue of this journal on the precariousness of knowledge workers. It aims to explore the ambivalences and liminal relations among autonomy, identification and task orientation, which – for knowledge workers – represent both a source of self-realisation and a generator of multiple and distinctive forms of precariousness. In particular, we focus on the forms and critiques of autonomy and self-representation that, in knowledge societies, extend far beyond the fact of being a self-employed worker. We argue that knowledge work is in fact sustained by devices of subjectivity which derive their power from being self-constructed and which provide tools for managing precarious lives.

Highlights

This text is the outcome of a project of collective research and analysis launched in 2014 in Yokohama as part of the World Congress of the International Sociological Association (ISA)
The first was the call for papers published in this journal, edited by Ursula Huws, who has always been interested in the theme of knowledge work from a global standpoint (Huws, 2006)
Knowledge work is sustained by devices of subjectivity that base their power on self-construction, which goes far beyond mere contractual conditions. This Special Issue aims to contribute to the analysis of the emerging possibilities for reimagining forms of autonomy that avoid the precariousness mechanism currently incorporated in the concept, and reinventing new forms of self-representation and self-determination

Summary

Introduction

This text is the outcome of a project of collective research and analysis launched in 2014 in Yokohama as part of the World Congress of the International Sociological Association (ISA). The first part of the Special Issue (published in 2016 as Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation Volume 10, Number 2) focused on trends among self-employed knowledge workers, which were explored using a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.

Results

Conclusion