Este estudo trata da relação identidade profissional e relações de trabalho. O objetivo é investigar como as trabalhadoras a domicílio da indústria de confecção de Divinópolis (MG), inseridas nos processos de flexibilização e nas mudanças recentes no mundo do trabalho constroem sua identidade profissional. Recorre-se a entrevistas semiestruturadas com trabalhadoras a domicílio, empresários da confecção, diferentes trabalhadoras da indústria de confecção e representante do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Indústria de Confecção de Divinópolis (MG) e à observação do campo com a confecção de um “Diário de campo”. Aborda-se a construção da identidade profissional, associada, particularmente, ao trabalho a domicílio, informal, precário e empreendedorismo. Para a análise da construção da identidade profissional, versa-se sobre as transformações do trabalho que envolvem os processos de subcontratação e terceirização na indústria de confecção, logo, as relações de trabalho, as relações com as instituições de representação, as condições de trabalho e as relações de gênero. Analisase a articulação contínua de dois processos, o da autonomia no trabalho e o reconhecimento no e pelo trabalho e a trajetória profissional e as perspectivas futuras das trabalhadoras. Reagrupa-se e classifica-se, de forma indutiva, as trabalhadoras a domicílio da indústria de confecção, a fim de construir uma tipologia das suas identidades profissionais. Caracteriza-se, empiricamente, quatro tipos: as trabalhadoras tipo precárias, as trabalhadoras tipo tuteladas, as trabalhadoras tipo proprietárias do pequeno negócio e/ou a pequena patroa e as trabalhadoras tipo empreendedoras. Como resultado deste estudo, mostra-se que o empreendedorismo individual como autoemprego estabelece exigências específicas para sua concretização (uma melhor divisão do trabalho na casa, recursos – financeiros – locais adequados de trabalho, maquinário de qualidade, qualificação formal e pelo trabalho, etc.). Os aspectos subjetivos, como o desejo de sucesso e de satisfação em criar algo, são relevantes para as possibilidades de sucesso, mas a sua concretização está calcada, ainda, em aspectos objetivos e, como tal, não está ao alcance de todas as trabalhadoras. A opção pelo trabalho autônomo não conduziria, efetivamente, a uma maior autonomia e liberdade no trabalho. O empreendedorismo envolve a contribuição de mais atores e, no trabalho a domicílio, exigiria um envolvimento maior da família. Um dos grandes desafios da análise sociológica, e enfrentado nesta pesquisa, é o de relacionar os processos históricos globais – ou macrossociológicos – com os relativos aos resultados da pesquisa empírica – microssociológicos – consagrados aos indivíduos e às situações sociais concretas. Logo, tornar possível uma análise sociológica da riqueza dos dados recolhidos no campo de pesquisa. As análises tipológicas das experiências vividas têm o significado e a vantagem de contribuir para explicitar os efeitos dos fenômenos estruturais, de ordem macrossociológica, sobre as atitudes e os comportamentos dos indivíduos e, consequentemente, sobre os espaços de liberdade, mesmo limitados, de que aqueles dispõem para dar um sentido a sua experiência social. / This study deals with the relationship between professional identity and work relationships. The aim is investigate how homeworkers in the textile industry from Divinópolis (MG), inserted into the processes of relaxation and recent changes in the work setting, build up their professional identity. The study makes use of semistructured interviews with female homeworkers, owners of textile companies, different workers in the textile industry and a representative of the Textile Industry Worker’s Union of Divinópolis (MG), as well as the field observation with the making of a “Field Diary”. The study tells of the building up of the professional identity associated particularly with the homeworking, informal, precarious and entrepreneurship. For the analysis of the building up of the professional identity, the study discusses about work changes that involve the processes of underemployment and outsourcing in the textile industry; therefore, the work relationships, the relationship with representation institutions, work conditions, and gender relationships. It analyzes the continuous articulation of two processes: work autonomy and recognition inside and for the job, as well as the professional trajectory and the workers’ perspectives for the future. We inductively rearranged and classified the homeworkers in the textile industry so that we could conceive a typology of their professional identities. We empirically characterized four types: the precarious type, the subordinate type, the owners-of-a-small-business type and/or the minor boss, and the enterprising type. As a result of this study, we show that the individual entrepreneurship as self-employment establishes specific demands for its achievement: a better work division at home, resources – financial – adequate places to work, quality machinery, formal qualification and for the job, and so on. The subjective aspects such as the desire to succeed and the joy in creating something are relevant for success possibilities; however, that is still grounded in objective aspects and for that reason, it is still out of such workers’ reach. The choice for the autonomous job would not effectively lead to a higher autonomy and freedom at work. The entrepreneurship demands the involvement of more elements, and in the homeworking, it would demand a higher involvement of the family. One of the biggest challenges in the sociological analysis, dealt with through this research, lies in relating the global historical processes – or macrosociological – to the processes concerning the empirical research – microsociological – which are particular to individuals and to concrete social situations; thereby, such challenge consists in enabling a sociological analysis of the richness of the data collected in the research field. The typological analysis of their experiences has the meaning and the advantage of helping to show the effects of the structural phenomena, of the macrosociological kind, about the attitudes and behavior of the individuals and, consequently, about the areas of freedom, even limited, that they have to give a meaning to their social experience.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse à l’expérience de travail des livreur·euse·s de plateformes de la gig-économie, au prisme de la question de l’autonomie. Il apparaît hautement paradoxal que les plateformes numériques, tout en célébrant cette valeur émancipatrice qu’est l’autonomie, sapent simultanément toutes ses chances de réalisation effective par les travailleur·euse·s, en multipliant les sources, directes ou indirectes, de contrôle. Devant ce paradoxe, nous interrogeons la réception par les travailleur·euse·s du discours sur l’autonomie tenu par les plateformes numériques et tentons de déceler leur interprétation personnelle de l’autonomie, afin de comprendre les conditions sous lesquelles une autonomie au travail peut être exercée. En adoptant une conception large de l’autonomie, il s’agit également d’intégrer les niveaux individuel et collectif afin de tisser des fils entre rapport au travail et action collective dans le cadre d’une réflexion sur les ressorts de la mobilisation. À partir d’un corpus de 16 entretiens menés avec des livreurs de plateforme à Montréal, nous développons une analyse qui tente de faire la part entre les aspirations et les pratiques concrètes d’autonomie, tant à l’échelle individuelle qu’à l’échelle collective, en mettant l’accent sur les obstacles à leur réalisation. Au terme de cette analyse, nous mettons en évidence le fait que l’autonomie apparaît comme un enjeu des rapports sociaux de production, qui se trouve dans une tension constante avec son opposé dialectique, à savoir le contrôle. Ce qui se dessine alors apparaît bel et bien comme une « zone grise d’autonomie ». / This dissertation focuses on the work experience of platform-based delivery workers through the lens of autonomy. It appears highly paradoxical that digital platforms, while celebrating the emancipatory value of autonomy, simultaneously undermine all its chances of effective realization by workers, by multiplying direct or indirect sources of control. To address this paradox, we question workers’ reception of the discourse on autonomy held by digital platforms and attempt to identify their personal interpretation of autonomy, in order to understand the conditions under which autonomy at work can be exercised. By adopting a broad conception of autonomy, we integrate the individual and collective scales in order to weave threads between the relationship to work and collective action as part of a reflection on the dynamics of mobilization. Based on a corpus of 16 interviews conducted with platform delivery workers in Montreal, we are developing an analysis that attempts to distinguish between aspirations and concrete practices of autonomy, both at the individual and collective levels, by focusing on the obstacles to their realization. At the end of this analysis, we highlight the fact that autonomy appears to be an issue in the social relations of production, which is in constant tension with its dialectical opposite, namely, control. What then emerges appears to be a "grey zone of autonomy".

[pt] Este estudo demonstra, a partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, a precarização do trabalho terceirizado de limpeza no âmbito do Estado e na catedral das mercadorias, através da investigação das formas de exploração, dominação e opressão e as suas consequências sobre as condições de saúde, trabalho e vida de trabalhadores(as) terceirizados(as). A pesquisa se deu no sentido de analisar, a partir de um prisma sociológico, um fenômeno que é rico em determinações, sejam elas econômicas, políticas ou mesmo ideológicas. Assim, dois grupos foram abordados mais diretamente: os(as) trabalhadores(as) terceirizados(as) de limpeza em um shopping center (denominado Triple A) e as trabalhadoras da limpeza de um órgão público do setor judiciário da cidade de São Paulo. Faz-se a crítica ao princípio da política neoliberal e ao avanço da ideologia neofascista do atual governo, que ganha destaque, pois tem se concretizado na desregulamentação dos direitos conquistados pelos trabalhadores no processo histórico, e a terceirização merece especial atenção no cenário atual, onde a sua regulamentação, pela Lei nº 13.429/2017, e, também, a reforma trabalhista, que foram aprovadas com o intuito de precarizar ainda mais as condições de vida e de trabalho no país. Parte-se do pressuposto de que a forma de contratação do trabalho terceirizado encobre o caráter subordinado do trabalho aos setores dinâmicos da economia e, consequentemente, ao processo de acumulação capitalista. A falta de um contrato direto de trabalho, ou de um contrato que proteja o(a) trabalhador(a), é considerada uma afronta à cidadania social. Assim, o(a) trabalhador(a) terceirizado(a) deixa de ser visto como cidadão ou como sujeito de direitos. No processo de pesquisa procurou-se conhecer as experiências dos(as) trabalhadores(as), buscando examinar a possível invisibilidade e sofrimento causados pelas condições de trabalho a que estão submetidos. Partiu-se da compreensão da realidade como um campo infinito de inter-relações permeadas por objetividades e subjetividades, visto que abarca relações entre sujeitos e objetos exteriores, entre sujeitos e outros sujeitos, e relações do sujeito consigo mesmo, ou seja, as relações de trabalho estabelecidas. Foi possível conhecer e refletir sobre a realidade e as condições de trabalho dos(as) trabalhadores(as) terceirizados que se ocupam da limpeza por intermédio de entrevistas e observações realizadas nos campos empíricos da pesquisa. A Internet também foi utilizada como meio de obter acesso a depoimentos de trabalhadores(as) das empresas Passando a Limpo e Maquiagem (nome fictício das empresas que prestam serviços para o Shopping Triple A e para o órgão público do judiciário), através das suas páginas no Facebook. Além disso, foram realizados revisão e aprofundamento da pesquisa bibliográfica iniciada no projeto de pesquisa. A partir dos dados coletados e analisados, é possível afirmar que as condições e relações de trabalho dos(as) trabalhadores(as) da limpeza nos setores público e privado, resguardadas suas particularidades, são marcadas por invisibilidade e sofrimento. Observa-se, também, que a desumanização inerente ao processo capitalista reveste de pompa e brilho os shoppings centers e os locais de grande circulação de pessoas, como um órgão público do Judiciário, à custa do trabalho precário do(as)s terceirizados(as). / [en] The current study shows, from a qualitative approach, the precariousness of the outsourced cleaning labor in the State scope and in the cathedral of goods, through labor exploitation investigation, domination and oppression and its consequences on heath conditions, labor and outsourced workers life. From a sociologic point, this research took place to analyze a phenomenon rich in determinations, being this economic, political, or even ideological. Thus, two different groups were directly approached: the cleaning outsourced staff from a shopping center (called Triple A) and cleaning staff from an judiciary public body in the city of São Paulo. It is done a criticism to the principle of the neoliberal political and to the progress of the current government Neo-fascist ideology, which is highlighted, since it has concretized the deregulation of the achieved rights by the workers in the historic process, and the outsourcing deserved special attention in the current scenario, where its regulation, by the Law nº 13.429/2017, and also by a labor reform, that were approved with the intention of jeopardizing even more the life and work conditions in the country. From an assumption that the outsourced work hiring way underlie the subordinate character of the labor to the dynamic departments of economy and, therefore, to the process of capitalism accumulation. The lack of a direct employment contract or of an agreement that protects the worker is considered an insult to the social citizenship. Hence, the outsourced worker is not seeing as a citizen or as a subject that has its rights. In the process of this research, it was sought to know the workers experience in order to evaluate the invisibility and suffering induced by the working conditions that they are submitted. Starting with the reality comprehension as an infinite field of interrelations permeated by objectivities and subjectivities, which embraces relationships between subject and external object, subject and others subjects, and also the relationship with themselves, that is, the established working relationships. It was possible to understand and reflect the reality and the living conditions of the outsourced workers that occupy themselves from the cleaning through interviews and observations performed in the empirical research field. The internet was also used as a medium to obtain access to the testimonies from workers of the Passando a Limpo company (the fake name for the company that services for the Triple A mall) through their Facebook webpage. Moreover, it was performed a review and deepening of the bibliography investigation started in the research project. From the collected and analyzed data, it was possible to state that the working conditions, from the public and private sectors, and relationships of the workers are marked by an invisibility and hardship. It was also observed that the dehumanization inherent to the capitalist process bleeds with sophistication and splendors the malls at the expense of hard work of the outsourced workers.

This dissertation compares the work and life of secondary public-school teachers in Ontario with different labour contracts during a time of crisis. The COVID public health crisis along with neoliberalism, the defunding of public education, and a climate crisis have all influenced governmental policies and the labour process of public secondary teachers in Ontario. The influences that different contracts can have on the labour process of teachers, how they feel towards their union, and the impacts on their individual health and household wellbeing before and during the first year of the COVID pandemic is the focus of this dissertation. To help explore these contexts and the influences on the life and labour of public secondary teachers in Ontario with different contracts, I have used research from studies in Labour Process Theory, precarious work, and educational labour to inform my analysis. Along with those areas of discourse, I have also used insights from research into Critical Realism and Thematic Analysis to think through and discuss the differences between the teachers I interviewed and connect their experiences with work, their union, and their individual health and household well-being to larger systems, structures, and histories. The interviews conducted revealed three points of interest: that precarious labour contracts can function as a disciplinary device, that larger contexts outside the contract shaped how the contract was experienced, and that teachers’ unions can act as a source of solidarity and security during a crisis and when there are certain associations with its purpose. This exploratory research aims to open up future areas of research into educational labour and differences between the experiences of educators with different contracts. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This project explored the differences between public secondary teachers with different contracts in Ontario before and during the COVID pandemic. It involved an online survey to help recruit participants and interviews with 36 teachers who were recruited from the online survey. Of the 36 teachers, 13 had permanent contracts, 16 had long term occasional (LTO) contracts, and 7 had occasional teaching (OT) contracts. The interviews and analysis revealed three points of interest: that precarious labour contracts in a tiered relationship with secure contracts can function as a disciplinary device, that larger contexts outside the contract shaped how the contract was experienced, and that teachers’ unions can act as a source of solidarity and security during a crisis and when there are certain associations with its purpose. Teachers with different contracts had uniquely different experiences with their work, their union, and their individual health and household wellbeing before and during COVID.

The berry industry is one of many migration corridors where migrant workers work under precarious forms of employment. The essay’s purpose is to examine different perspectives on the living and working conditions in the Swedish berry picking industry. This will be studied qualitatively, with oral history as the primary research method, by analysing inspection reports and through interviews with six informants. The informants consist of workers from The Swedish Municipal Workers' Union (Kommunal), a berry picker and a berry principal. Previous research on this topic is sparse and few have used historical and sociological perspectives to explain the phenomenon. The Thai berry pickers’ living conditions varies. Some municipalities need to execute inspections far more frequent, for the inspections to become an important mechanism of control which can exert pressure. Kommunal has since 2009 had the right to represent the Thai berry pickers and the working conditions have improved ever since. Through the collective agreement the workers are given the right to minimum-wage in addition to the piece rate. Kommunal plays an important role but are limited as few berry pickers are members of the labour union. The working hours is one area of concern where Kommunal has difficulties to act. The piece rate has given rise to intense work and the berry pickers therefore want to maximize their profits. The berry picking principals, in the competitive industry, varies in terms of seriousness but can change the industry. This responsibility has not always been adopted. / Bärindustrin är en av många migrationskorridorer, där migrantarbetare arbetar under prekära anställningsformer. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka ett flertal perspektiv på boende- och arbetsförhållandena inom den kommersiella bärplockningen i Sverige. Detta studeras kvalitativt, med muntlig historia som huvudsaklig undersökningsmetod, genom att analysera opublicerade inspektionsrapporter samt förhållningssätt till företeelsen genom intervjuer med sex relevanta informanter. Informanterna består av anställda på Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet (Kommunal), en bärplockare och en bärföretagare. Forskningsläget om den kommersiella bärplockningen är begränsat och få har anlagt historiska och sociologiska perspektiv för att förklara fenomenet. De thailändska bärplockarnas boendeförhållanden varierar. Vissa kommuner behöver utföra mer frekventa inspektioner för att inspektionerna ska kunna utgöra en viktig kontrollmekanism i form av ett påtryckningsmedel.  Sedan 2009 har Kommunal haft organisationsrätt att företräda de thailändska bärplockarna och därefter har arbetsförhållandena förbättrats. Genom kollektivavtalet har alla thailändska bärplockare rätt till lagstadgad grundlön, utöver ackordslönen. Kommunal har ett viktigt ansvar men är begränsade då organiseringsgraden är låg. Arbetstiderna är ett problemområde där Kommunal har svårt att agera. Ackordslönen ger upphov till intensivt arbete och bärplockarna vill därför maximera sina inkomster. Bärföretagen i den konkurrerande branschen varierar i seriöshet men har möjligheter att påverka arbetsförhållandena. Detta medför ett ansvar som inte alltid har antagits.

This study presents insights on career management in the creative and cultural industries in Scotland with detailed exploration into practices and strategies employed by cultural workers. Following a phenomenological approach, the study has used subjective data of individual career experiences and interpreted them into objective patterns of career management. Using qualitative research interviews and thematic analysis, the doctoral study explored the career management experiences of thirty six cultural workers and identified particular strategies adopted in the self-management of precarious and unpredictable careers. Employment in the creative and cultural industries is with precarious which constitutes a specific environment for career management and career progression. Not enough is known about the ways in which cultural workers manage their careers in these circumstances. The aim of this study was to understand the realities of contemporary career management in the creative and cultural industries and to identify particular practices and strategies in which creative careers might be managed. Beyond the scholars in this field, this research is of interest to cultural workers, policy makers in the creative and cultural industries more broadly and higher education institutions preparing graduates for work in the creative and cultural industries. The empirical evidence gathered can better inform cultural workers of effective career management strategies and propose policy interventions that would facilitate effective career management and career management education. Key findings focus on the use of online / social media within creative careers and how such activity takes place; the development of a new harmony between art and economic logics and the application of development based career strategies in creative careers, with cultural workers being more managerial than they even recognise themselves. The findings from this study offers confirmation to what is already known about careers in the creative and cultural industries, greater depth and detail to what is already known and extend understanding about the relationship disconnect between individual career Career Management in the Creative and Cultural Industries Abstract management strategies and the policies designed to support cultural workers – policies which focus on growth and development of the industry but not those individuals who make up the industry. Exploration of the phenomenon of career management in the creative and cultural industries requires further research, which could include: alternative methodologies to elicit perceptions based on the findings from this study, deeper exploration into both the difference in career management within the creative and cultural industries and the emerging relationship between art and economic logic.

Les carrières artistiques constituent un domaine très peu étudié dans le champ des relations industrielles. Celles-ci représentent pourtant un observatoire très puissant pour examiner et anticiper l’évolution des professions dans un contexte où plusieurs auteurs ont émis l’hypothèse que de nombreux métiers, notamment ceux du domaine de la recherche scientifique et des professions créatives, sont appelées à évoluer selon des formes qui se rapprochent des conditions d’organisation et des formes d’emploi des métiers artistiques. La présente recherche a pour objet l’étude des facteurs qui influencent les artistes professionnels de la danse à entreprendre une transition de carrière. Plus précisément, il s’agit d’étudier comment s’opèrent et sont vécues les transitions de carrière provoquées par des blessures ou des maladies professionnelles, incluant l’usure, la diminution des capacités physiques et l’invalidité, chez les danseuses et les danseurs professionnels à Montréal. La réalisation de cette recherche repose sur une analyse transversale du matériel de recherche qui comprend des données quantitatives et qualitatives. La double comparaison des données convergentes et divergentes de l’expérience vécue des participants relativement aux opinions, aux perceptions, aux sentiments et aux attitudes permet, par ces lignes de convergences et de fuites, de tirer des conclusions plus larges. À l’aide de cette méthodologie de recherche, cette étude vise à reconnaître: 1) que les transitions de carrière provoquées par ces facteurs physiques sont difficiles à vivre étant donné qu’elles sont inattendues, ce qui fait d’elles une forme de transition contrainte et, 2) que les transitions de carrière provoquées par ces facteurs physiques sont difficiles à vivre étant associées à d’importantes difficultés psychologiques et identitaires. Par cette analyse, nous constatons qu’il existe deux degrés de transitions de carrières provoquées par des facteurs physiques : celles qui sont provoquées par une blessure grave ou une maladie professionnelle et celles qui sont provoquées par une installation graduelle de la douleur en raison d’une microblessure, d’une usure ou d’une diminution des capacités physiques. En étudiant les évènements menant à ces types de transition, nous nous attardons à définir ce que nous entendons par « contrainte » et nous détaillons les caractéristiques des transitions qu’elles engendrent. Nous arrivons à la conclusion que ces deux degrés de transitions correspondent à la nature d’une transition de carrière contrainte ce qui fait d’elles des processus difficiles à vivre notamment raison de leur caractère inattendu. En plus de constater que celles-ci sont effectivement associées à différentes difficultés psychologiques et identitaires, nous identifions les raisons qui expliquent l’émergence de ces difficultés. Cette étude permet d’étudier la survenance des événements qui mènent à ces transitions de carrière et permet de porter un regard sur les services offerts par la Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). Au final, des enseignements plus généraux et applicables à d’autres professions précaires qui ne relèvent pas du domaine artistique sont tirés de cette étude. / Artistic careers have been under-studied in the field of industrial relations. This is the case despite several researchers having recently suggested that an increasing number of professions, including academic and creative ones, are likely to evolve and present similar organizational conditions and employment forms to the ones we observe in artistic labour markets. This research addresses the factors influencing professional dance artists to undertake a career transition. More precisely, we study how career transitions induced by occupational injuries and diseases operate, and how they are experienced by professional dance artists in Montreal. We take into consideration different manifestations of occupational injuries and diseases such as wear, decreasing physical abilities and disability. From a methodological standpoint, this research is supported by a transversal analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. The double comparison of convergent and divergent data relating to the experience of career transitioning, including the participants’ opinions, perceptions, feelings and attitudes, allows us to draw larger conclusions. This study highlights that (1) career transitions induced by physical factors are challenging because of their unexpected nature. We consider these transitions to be constrained ones, because they are forced upon professional dance artists instead of being the result of a voluntary and planned process. This study also shows that (2) career transitions induced by physical factors represent a challenging experience for professional dance artists because of their association with major psychological and identity difficulties. This research shows the existence of two different degrees of career transitions induced by physical factors in the professional dance sector in Montreal. The first relates to transitions induced by occupational injuries or diseases. The second relates to transitions induced by a gradual settling of pain due to a microinjury, wear or decreasing physical abilities. By studying the events leading to these two degrees of transitions, we define our concept of constrained transition and detail the characteristics of the different types of transitions the formers can lead to. We conclude that the two types of transitions correspond to constrained transitions, which makes them challenging experiences because of their unexpected nature. Beyond concluding that constrained transitions are associated with different major psychological and identity difficulties, we also identify the reasons explaining the emergence of those difficulties. This study allows for a better understanding of the factors leading to constrained career transitions in the professional dance sector in Montreal. This opens up new perspectives to reflect on the services offered by the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). General reflections and contributions applying to other precarious professions are also discussed.