Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece
Precarity is becoming the paradigmatic description of young people’s work conditions in crisis-ridden Greece, but also in other European countries. Focusing on interview data on the work experiences of young adults (18-26 years old), in urban centres of Greece, this study attempts to explore the way...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/494 |
| _version_ | 1797972926216011776 |
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| author | Georgios Kesisoglou Evangelia Figgou Maria Dikaiou |
| author_facet | Georgios Kesisoglou Evangelia Figgou Maria Dikaiou |
| author_sort | Georgios Kesisoglou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Precarity is becoming the paradigmatic description of young people’s work conditions in crisis-ridden Greece, but also in other European countries. Focusing on interview data on the work experiences of young adults (18-26 years old), in urban centres of Greece, this study attempts to explore the ways in which informants account for working in precarious conditions and construct agency and subjectivity within these ways of accounting. The analysis drawing on insights from critical discursive social psychology indicates that participants construct precarious work conditions as widespread and banal a) by treating precarious work as a sine qua non condition of youth employment, b) by considering precarious work as an inherent trait of the Greek job-market, c) by considering precarious work as a necessary step on a (biographical) path leading to the desired and/or appropriate job, or d) by adopting a “there is no other alternative” accounting, representing precarious job conditions as the only alternative to unemployment. The analysis also points out the ways in which participants orient themselves to a dilemma of stake and accountability, being concerned to position themselves as effortful subjects, while they are rhetorically constructing the banal regime of precarious labour. The discussion considers the need to bring into the scope of social and political psychology the specific nuances of precarious labour. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:56:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51b20e6038234b8a88bb11b8071707f3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-3325 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:56:09Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-51b20e6038234b8a88bb11b8071707f32023-01-02T00:31:36ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyJournal of Social and Political Psychology2195-33252016-03-0141244310.5964/jspp.v4i1.494jspp.v4i1.494Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in GreeceGeorgios Kesisoglou0Evangelia Figgou1Maria Dikaiou2Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, GreeceDepartment of Psychology, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Psychology, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, GreecePrecarity is becoming the paradigmatic description of young people’s work conditions in crisis-ridden Greece, but also in other European countries. Focusing on interview data on the work experiences of young adults (18-26 years old), in urban centres of Greece, this study attempts to explore the ways in which informants account for working in precarious conditions and construct agency and subjectivity within these ways of accounting. The analysis drawing on insights from critical discursive social psychology indicates that participants construct precarious work conditions as widespread and banal a) by treating precarious work as a sine qua non condition of youth employment, b) by considering precarious work as an inherent trait of the Greek job-market, c) by considering precarious work as a necessary step on a (biographical) path leading to the desired and/or appropriate job, or d) by adopting a “there is no other alternative” accounting, representing precarious job conditions as the only alternative to unemployment. The analysis also points out the ways in which participants orient themselves to a dilemma of stake and accountability, being concerned to position themselves as effortful subjects, while they are rhetorically constructing the banal regime of precarious labour. The discussion considers the need to bring into the scope of social and political psychology the specific nuances of precarious labour.http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/494precarious workbanalisationpsycho-discursive practicescommon-senseneo-liberalism |
| spellingShingle | Georgios Kesisoglou Evangelia Figgou Maria Dikaiou Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece Journal of Social and Political Psychology precarious work banalisation psycho-discursive practices common-sense neo-liberalism |
| title | Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece |
| title_full | Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece |
| title_fullStr | Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece |
| title_short | Constructing Work and Subjectivities in Precarious Conditions: Psycho-Discursive Practices in Young People’s Interviews in Greece |
| title_sort | constructing work and subjectivities in precarious conditions psycho discursive practices in young people s interviews in greece |
| topic | precarious work banalisation psycho-discursive practices common-sense neo-liberalism |
| url | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/494 |
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