Social insecurity of freelance workers: objective position and subjective perception
How to Cite
Karpova G.G., Ubogova A.S., Fedoseeva A.A. Social insecurity of freelance workers: objective position and subjective perception. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2019. Vol. 11. No. 19. P. 62-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2019.19.4 (in Russ.).
Abstract
This article is devoted to the social vulnerability of freelance workers and the way it is represented in different dimensions of precariousness. According to the previous studies, we identifed the categories of social insurance (fnancial, juridical, lack of social guarantees and lack of personal well-being) and the most common indicators within each. We conducted a qualitative research using in-depth semi-formal interviews with 21 employees older than 18 years, who are engaged in freelancing at the moment or had such experience in the last couple of years. The number of informants included employees for whom freelance is one of the main sources of income for at least one year. During the interview, the informants were speaking about the subjective assessment of social precariousness and also answered to some questions aimed at identifying the objective features of the precious situation in employment status. In the analysis of subjective assessments of social precariousness, it was revealed that informants cannot be divided into categories according to the degree of precariousness, because they can experience social vulnerability in one or several areas at the same time. According to the results of the study, we propose to consider precariousness as a certain scale from 0 to the maximum value of the insecurity parameters. This approach will take into account the importance of subjective assessment of freelancers’ position, while the dichotomy “precariat — free agent”, which is mostly shared by researchers, does not consider the complexity of this social phenomenon.
Keywords:
dimensions of precariousness, freelance workers, remote employment, precariat, self-employment
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Bauman Z. (2005) Individualizirovannoe obshchestvo [Individualised society]. M.: Logos. (In Russ.)
Beck U. (2000) Obshchestvo riska. Na puti k modernu. [Risk society. Towards a new modernity]. M.: Progress-Traditsiya. (In Russ.)
Borghi P., Cavalca G., Fellini I. (2016) Dimensions of precariousness: independent professionals between market risks and entrapment in poor occupational careers. Work organisation, labour &globalization. Vol. 10. No 2. P. 50–56.
Broughton A. (2016) Precarious Employment in Europe. Brussels: European Parliament.
Burke A. (ed.) (2015) The Handbook of Research on Freelancing and Self-Employment. Dubline: Senate Hall Academic Publishing.
Gasyukova E. (2015) Precariousness: conceptualizing reasons, factors, and assessments. World and Russia. Problemnyj analiz i gosudarstvenno-upravlencheskoe proektirovanie [Problem analysis and public administration design]. Vol. 8. No 6. P. 28–46. (In Russ.)
Handy Ch. (2001) Vremya bezrassudstva [The Time of Mindless]. SPb: Piter. (In Russ.)
Kalleberg A. (2009) Precarious Work, Insecure Workers: Employment Relations in Transition. American Sociological Review. Vol. 74. No 1. P. 1–22.
Malone T., Laubacher R. (1998) The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 76. No 5. P. 144–152.
Mckeown T. (2005) Non-standard employment: When even the elite are precarious. The journal of industrial relations. Vol. 47. No 3. P. 276–293.
Murgia A., Maestripieri L., Armano E. (2017) The precariousness of knowledge workers: hybridisation, self-employment and subjectifcation. Work organisation, labour & globalization. Vol. 10. No. 2. P. 1–8.
Pink D. (2005). Natsuya svobodnuh agentov: kak novye nezavisimye rabotniki men’ayut zhizn’ Ameriki [Nation of free agents: how new independent workers change the American life]. M.: Sekret firmy. (In Russ.)
Sizova I., Leonova L., Henze A. (2015) Precariousness of employment and incomes in Russia and Germany: self-perception by the employees. Ekonomicheskaya sociologiya [Economical Sociology]. Vol. 18. No 4. P. 14–60.
Stending G. (2014) Precariat: the new dangerous class. М.: Ad Marginem Press.
Strebkov D., Shevchuk A. (2015) Labor trajectories of self-employed professionals (freelancers). Mir Rossii: Sociologiya, etnologiya [World of Russia]. Vol. 24. No 1. P. 72–100. (In Russ.)
Strebkov D., Shevchuk A., Spirina M. (2015) Razvitie russkoyazychnogo rynka udalennoy raboty, 2009–2014 gg. (po rezul’tatam perepisi frilanserov) [Development of the Russian work in distance market, 2009–2014 y. (results of freelancers’ census)]. М.: Izd. Dom Vyshej Shkoly Ekonomiki. (In Russ.)
Vishnevskaya N. (2013) Self-employment in developing economies. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [World economy and international relations]. No 10. P. 58–67. (In Russ.)
Vyaznikova V. (2008) Features of labor relations between Russian IT freelancers and customers of their services. Ekonomicheskaya sociologiya [Economical Sociology]. Vol. 9. No 1. P. 88–113. (In Russ.)
Citation Formats
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APA
Karpova, G. G., Ubogova, A. S., & Fedoseeva, A. A. (2019). Social insecurity of freelance workers: objective position and subjective perception. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 11(19), 62-80. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2019.19.4
Section
Field work research
