COLLECTITUDE · Building the collective at times of precarity: precarious labour and its countermovements
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-01-01 → 2021-12-31
- EU contribution
- €159,815
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-SE
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Building the collective at times of precarity: precarious labour and its countermovements
The COLLECTITUDE project explored conceptually and empirically current and future transformations in the world of work at times of precarity, by researching the relationship between precarisation, on the one hand, and agency and social transformation, on the other, proposing to develop a new analytical perspective that is able to articulate this double movement and to capture both national and transnational social processes underway. The research aimed at investigating: a) the political economy of precarity; b) the relationship between precarious work and the precarity of livelihoods; c) how collective agency and different initiatives of social and solidarity economy (SSE) unfold under precarious forms of labour; d) paths of intervention, with the purpose is to advance knowledge on the futures of work and social protection. Empirically, the project was grounded on the Portuguese reality and on the comparative analysis of two specific sectors: the construction and arts sectors. This comparison was justified by the objective conditions of precarity faced by both and their contrasting features (in terms of education levels, production processes, social composition, and different traditions of collective organization). The methodological approach was based on qualitative research, combined with the analysis of secondary data. The project's results have an impact at four main levels: (1) at theoretical level, providing an in-depth theoretical framework for precarity studies; (2) at empirical level, producing new knowledge on the construction and arts sectors and developing a general analytical framework for advancing the study of precarity within different forms of work and economic practices; (3) at social level, by mapping collective forms of workers organisation and SSE as a ground for mutual learning and for supporting alternative futures; and (4) at policy level, unveiling the normative character of prevailing approaches to precarity and respective political effects and suggesting avenues for rethinking policy approaches to work and social protection in contemporary societies.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The COLLECTITUDE project aims to analyse current andThe COLLECTITUDE project aims to analyse current and future transformations in the world of work at times of precarity, by researching the relationship between precarisation, on the one hand, and agency and social change, on the other, developing a new analytical perspective that is able to articulate this double movement and to capture both national and transnational social processes underway. It will address this double movement by focusing on the case of Portugal and by undertaking a comparative analysis of two professional groups that occupy a specific space in current models of capitalism, assuming a set of common trends throughout various countries, while representing two distinct sectors of the workforce: the construction industry, a labour-intensive sector, whose jobs are mostly unskilled, low-wage and insecure; and the creative industry, whose work is highly qualified, though intermittent and often unprotected. The project will be developed at a civil society organisation (A3S) and proposes an interdisciplinary, participatory and multi-method approach, involving a systematic process of progressive focusing: collection and analysis of quantitative macro data; ethnography of project work, based on participant observation and in-depth interviews; document analysis; and focus groups. The project will investigate: a) the political economy of precarity, and its relation with project work; b) the relationship between the precariousness of work and the precarity of livelihoods; c) how collective agency and different initiatives of social and solidarity economy unfold under precarious forms of labour; d) paths of intervention, updating the debates on the welfare state models. The final purpose is to advance knowledge on the futures of work and the future of social Europe, developing an analytical model for framing precarious work and collective agency and a social agenda for shaping the futures of work and society.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ASSOCIACAO A3S · PORTOCoordinatorPortugal
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union