In my thesis I deal with the concept of meaningful work in a platform economy. Meaningful work is a theoretical as well as a practical problem that exists across various fields of study. Meaningful work is increasingly important topic, which corresponds with actual problems that workers face in their workplace. The main goal of the thesis is to inquire if and how is this concept useful to describe the working conditions of emerging platform economy, which strengthens the class conflict at the workplace. I research this problem on the case of Viennese food delivery service Mjam with application of the method of the phenomenological analysis, which enabled me to study dailiness and experiencing of meaningfulness of work of the couriers. For the analysis, I conducted semi-structured interviews with the riders. Even though the couriers experience occasionally meaningfulness as well as meaninglessness at the workplace, the thesis shows that this concept is rather used to rephrase their crucial problems of the workplace. The researched literature partially ignores the real problems of workers in their workplace as well as the complexity and heterogeneity of the problem of meaningful work.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:33:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio Luiz Kuhn.pdf: 728513 bytes, checksum: cb561ce7a972c3f71f1f992463485b0d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This paper central theme is focused in the Informality in Civil Construction Working Association in the city of Cascavel, Pr., Brazil. The research/study based on the historical and theoretical-methodological referential related, while determined subject, to the analysis and understanding of variables and determinations in civil construction in the capital/working relation appropriating its manifestations in the informality field. To query the object intimacy we brought up the following research problem: If civil construction is an economical activity segment that requires guidelines in its effectual process and it is totally made of complex qualities and determinations, what is the reason for the progressive growth in the last few years in the hired workforce in the field of juridical relations guided in the working relation informality? To mind and answer the research problem, what follows is proposed as general objective: Understand and analyze civil construction segment variables in the capital/working relation and its manifestation in the field of relations enclosed in informality, tendencies and responsibilities in the city of Cascavel, Pr. This path took us to acquire as statistical data empiric material, reports and working economy studies from municipal, state and federal departments, and also perform a field research done through an instrumental questionnaire. These procedures allowed us to learn about the subject movement and tend its determinations by analytical mechanism according to the method that guides us. The research took place downtown and in the suburbs of the city of Cascavel, right on the work site, from August to October 2006 and its subjects were employee and employers classified as entrepreneurs, construction companies in their different occupations and professions, totaling 130 interviewees. The study led us to identify that informality in working relation is a consequence of a capitalist production way. That workers, basically males, from the countryside, with almost no education, without any other professional options, and in this occupation/profession for years, find themselves in unstable conditions, according to the law, among others, motivated by economical, social, institutional, legislations, labor, ideological and personal issues / O presente trabalho dissertativo traz como tema central a Informalidade nas Relações de Trabalho na Construção Civil no Município de Cascavel PR. O estudo-pesquisa fundamentado no referencial teórico-metodológico e histórico pautou-se, enquanto objeto determinado, na compreensão e análise das variáveis e determinações na construção civil na relação capital-trabalho, apropriando as suas manifestações no âmbito da informalidade. Para perquerir a intimidade do objeto em estudo, trouxemos como problema da pesquisa Se a construção civil é um segmento de atividade econômica que exige regularidade em seu processo de efetivação e compõe-se em sua totalidade de determinações e qualidades complexas, por que o crescimento progressivo, nos últimos anos da força de trabalho contratada no âmbito das relações jurídicas foi pautado na informalidade das relações do trabalho? . Para atender e responder ao problema desta pesquisa propôs-se como objetivo geral: Compreender e analisar as variáveis do segmento da construção civil na relação capital e trabalho e sua manifestação no âmbito das relações pautadas na informalidade, das tendências e responsabilidades, no município de Cascavel, PR. Este caminho levou-nos a ter, como material empírico de estudo, dados estatísticos de órgãos oficiais, relatórios da organização e da economia do trabalho do município, bem como uma pesquisa de campo que foi aplicada por meio de questionários. Estes procedimentos possibilitaram apreender o movimento do objeto e tratar suas determinações por mecanismos analíticos conforme o método que nos fundamenta. A pesquisa teve como sujeitos os trabalhadores e empregadores, estes classificados como empreiteiros pessoas físicas, construtoras pessoas jurídicas e proprietários donos de obras, em suas diferentes ocupações / profissões, durante os meses de agosto a outubro de 2006, diretamente nos canteiros de obras, de localização espacial central e nos bairros da cidade de Cascavel, perfazendo uma amostra de 130 entrevistados. O estudo levou a identificar que a informalidade nas relações de trabalho é conseqüência do modo de produção capitalista, que os trabalhadores, basicamente do sexo masculino, são oriundos do campo, com baixa escolaridade, sem opção profissional; e que eles, há muitos anos, estão nesta profissão / ocupação, em condições informais e precárias, à margem da lei, entre outros, motivadas por questões: econômicas, sociais, institucionais, legais, laborais, ideológicas e pessoais

The research undertaken represents an in-depth study of gender and economics from a multi-disciplinary perspective. By drawing on economic, social policy and political science literature it makes an original contribution to the disciplines of economics and feminist economics by advancing ideas on a feminist theory of policy change and institutional design. Equally, the study develops a framework for a multi-method approach to feminist research with applied policy focus by establishing a pragmatic feminist research paradigm. By espousing multiple research philosophies, it extends understanding of gender differences in policy outcomes by connecting theories from feminist economics, feminist historical institutionalism and ideational processes. Jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council UK and the Scottish Government, this project attempts to answer three key questions: What is the relative position of men and women in the Scottish economy and how do childcare responsibilities influence these? Which institutions, structures and processes have been instrumental in embedding gender in Scottish economic policy? To what extent and how is the Scottish Government’s approach to economic policy gendered? Quantitative analysis reveals persistently disproportionate differences in men and women’s position in the labour market. Women remain over-represented in part-time employment and in the public sector in the 10years under investigation. Using panel data, the multinomial logistic regression estimation of patterns in labour market transitions equally reveal disproportionate gendered patterns, with families with dependent children 0-4years at a disadvantage to those without. Qualitative analysis indicates that these differences are partly explained by the fact that the unpaid economy still remains invisible to policymakers despite changes in the institutional design, policy processes and the approach to equality policymaking undertaken in Scotland. Unpaid childcare work is not represented as policy relevant and the way gender, equality and gender equality are conceptualised within institutional sites and on political agendas pose various challenges for policy development on unpaid childcare work and gender equality in general. Additionally, policymakers in Scotland do not integrate both the paid and unpaid economies in economic policy formulation since social policy and economic policy are designed separately. The study also establishes that the range of institutions and actors that make-up the institutional setting for regulating and promoting equality, influence how equality issues are treated within a national context. In Scotland, equality regulating institutions such as parliament, the Scottish Government, equality commission and the law are instrumental variables in determining the range of equality issues that are embedded in an equality infrastructure and the extent to which equality issues, including gender, are consequently embedded in public policy and government budgets. Significantly despite meeting all the attributes of an equality issue, unpaid care is not classified as a protected characteristic in the Equality legislation. These institutions can ameliorate, sustain or perpetuate the delivery of unequitable policy outcomes for men and women in the mutually dependent paid and unpaid economy. Thus, economic, social and political institutions are not independent from one another but are interrelated in complex ways that subsequently have material consequences on men and women in society. In summary, there are interlinkages between the law, labour market, the unpaid economy, the welfare state and gendered political institutions such that policy or institutional change in one will be dependent on or trigger change in another. These institutions are gendered, but are also interlinked and underpin the gender structure of other institutions to the extent that the gendered norms and ideas embedded in one institution, for example legislation or political institutions, structure the gendered dimensions of the labour market, welfare state, and the unpaid economy. By shedding light on institutional and political forces that regulate equality in addition to macroeconomic forces, the analysis reveals the important role of institutions, policy actors and their ideas as instrumental forces which constantly define, redefine and reconstruct the labour market experiences of men and women with significant material consequences.