Feminist Review 87 Snapshot of Precariousness

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A Snapshot of Precariousness: Voices, Perspectives, DialoguesAuthor(s): Manuela Galetto, Chiara Lasala, Sveva Magaraggia, Chiara Martucci, Elisabetta Onoriand Francesca PozziSource: Feminist Review, No. 87, Italian Feminisms (2007), pp. 104-112Published by: Palgrave Macmillan JournalsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30140804 .

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87 a snapshot ofprecariousness: voices,perspectives, dialoguesSconvegnoManuelaGaletto, hiara asala,SvevaMagaraggia,ChiaraMartucci,lisabettaOnori, rancesca ozzi)abstractThiscollectivelywritten rticle aims to offer bird'seye view of the Italian debatesabout precarity in employmentand life, as captured in discussions amongparticipants n a focus groupheld in Milan in 2006. The chieftopics that emergedfromthis discussion include the feminizationof labour, feministpractices andmethodologies,representation/participation,nd guaranteed income. Here,we giveas muchspace as possible to the diverse voices of participants nd theirstrategiesfortransformation.

keywordsprecarity;feminism; epresentation; maginary;work; taly

104 feminist review 87 2007(104-112)C 2007Feministeview.141-7789/0730www.feminist-review.com

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introductionInthepublic iscussionn thesubject fprecarity/flexibility,t seemsdifficulttogo beyondhecontradictoryiew f, n theonehand, he raditionallyacredidea offixedmploymentall theway oyour ension'nd,on theother,he wovarietiesfprecarity:hespectre f thetotal ack ofprotectionndrights,rthefairytalefchoosing independentlynd at a time o suityou thewaysandtypes f work oudo. Faced withmajor nd complexhanges,we infactcontinueeading ealitynterms frigidndopposingategorieshatare notable to representhese hanges. he xplanatoryignificancefrigidlyualisticperspectives Fordism/post-Fordism,ypical/atypicalork, elf-employed/employed is oftenhown o be inadequate, oth n an epistemologicalnd ona politicalevel.Whatspeculiaro this hase n heprocesss,on theonehand,thegrowingack ofclarityntheboundariesetweenife pans nd workpansand thusthe extensionf precaritys a condition f existence,nd,on theother,hephenomenonf theso-calledfeminizationf work.The Milan focus group,which ook place in January006, involved heparticipationfa varietyfpeople,1 honrecent earshave rgued, iscussedandconstructedctions nd nitiativesn the opic fprecarityfemployment/life. This rticlediscusses he principalocuspoints hatemerged rom hissession;highlightingifferentatternsndstrategiesorpossible hange.

the feminization of work: an ambivalent conceptWhatxactly owe meanwhenwespeak bout he feminizationf work? swillbe seen from hefollowingebate, here remanyypes fambivalencenthisprocess. izianaVettor ums hem pas follows:From he 1990s heexpression"feminizationf work"was taken o mean t least two hings:hepresence fmorewomenn every ector of the labour market nd having ll typesofcontractsnotonly nsecureobs)2; and that nworkoday, n theso-calledpost-Fordistra,female ttitudes avebeen hapedbyproduction,nwhichaccordingo Deleuze- there are traces of the symbolicnd femaleas acorporealntity.he xpectations,esires ndpresencef women ave ndeedbeen ne of hemain easons or he ransformationn ypes fproductionn hetransition rom ordismo post-Fordism.nd t is thisverymeaningf theexpressionhich e arediscussinghat we believe hould e stressed;notherwords he effect f female ubjectivityntheprocess fchangenwork,atherthanthehigher ercentagef women o be found mongworkers ho re ininsecureobs'.The mportancef he ualitativespectofwork onebywomenhould, owever,be set withinhe context f a labourmarket hat does notyetseemready omakeproperse of thispotential, hereast hasquicklyearned ow o exploit

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1 The participantsincluded CristinaMorini, ournalistand socialresearcher; AndreaFumagalli, lecturerin Political Economyat the UniversityofPavia and activist inthe Mayday network;Cristina Tajani,doctoral studentand member of thetrade unionmovement; TizianaVettor, lecturer inEmployment Law atthe UniversityofMilano-Bicocca andactivist in theLibreria delle Donnedi Milano (Women'sBookshop in Milano);Zoe, advertisingcopywriter andactivist atChainworkers; andMarta Bonetti,independentresearcher andactivist in theprec@s network.2 There is afeminine vocationfor work and notsimply for precarity.Statistics tell usthat, all things beingequal, women aremore penalized interms of



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it, s emphasizedyMarta onetti:We annotgnorehequantitativeata: themore nsecureobsare still ndabove ll carried utbywomen.he eminisationofworks a conceptwhichsambiguousnd full fcontradictions:t nvolvesheintroductionnd extensionfthemodel favailability,hichharacteriseshework freproducing,nthe abourmarket,hewillingnesso enter nd leave tand thecapacity typicallyemale ofmanagingomplex ours. his ives iseto the risk hatwomen'sbilityo create imewillbecome unctional,nd suitthe needsofcompanies atherhan heir wnwishes'.The nternalmbivalencen hefeminizationfworkranslatesnto hedifficultyofpassing rom he theoreticalo thepolitical lane, s underlinedyCristinaTajani,Inthe feminizationfwork,heconcept f ambivalences heuristicallyvery owerful,utpoliticallyilent ince t tends not to provide practicaldirectionor oliticalction.How re we to choose hepeakoftheambivalenceonwhich ewant o stand ndfrom hich e hall rganizeurselvesofighthepolitical attle?Whens theworker,nd not heboss,free o choose?'Evenf n taly heprevailingesponsen hepublic ebateonprecaritymplicitlyinvokes return o traditional/Fordistorms f work, mphasizing aterialpovertynd thenegative spects inked o the condition f beingprecarious,there re thosewho, ookingt the conceptof ambivalence,mphasizetspotentialspects.This sshownyCristina orini,nreplyowhathas ustbeensaid, Insofars theconcept fprecarityelongso semanticallyegativereas(instability,ransience,ragility)t s at thesame time lso connected ith heidea ofre-questioning,fbecoming,fthefuture,fpossibility,onceptswhichtogetherontributeo creatinghe idea of a nomadic ubjectwithoutixedroots.Precaritys a category hich ffects ll professions,ositions,obs andconditions.heprecariousubjecthas no fixed oints nd does notwant ny.He/she s alwaysforced o seek a new ense of direction,o construct ewnarrativesnd not o takeanythingor ranted. sregardshestatic ndfirmclass concept,o which he Fordistasthadaccustomed s,we are now acedwith subjectivityho s absolutelyesistanto anyform f assimilationnddifficulto represent'.

feminist practices at work: a usefulmethodological approach?Oneof theaspects inked o thetopicofprecarityiscussednthefocusgroupconcerned hepotentialitieshat women an expressnthe labourmarket:sthere differentayofexperiencingrecarity?re here chemes,ctive ndcreativepractices,both individualnd collective,whichbringwiththempotentiallements f transformation?

106 feminist review 87 2007 snapshoton precariousness

employment. In itsAnnual Report ofMarch 2005, Isfolnoted that femalegraduates are morelikely to be in work(75 per cent - 5percentage pointsless than men withthe same academicqualifications) asare women fromnorthern Italy. Infact, Italy presentswide regionaldifferences: in thenorth, the femaleemployment rate isover 50 per cent(peaking at around60 per cent in EmiliaRomagna), whereasin the South only 27women ut of 100work. or hoseholding a diploma,the employment rateworks ut at around55 per cent, withdifferencef 19points comparedwithmen.At helowest ducationallevels, the gap isaccentuated,exceeding 34 percent points. In fact,only34 per cent ofwomenwith middleschool diploma arein work nd only19per cent of womenwith an elementaryeducation. Thedifference is alsoreflected in the gapin salaries - forwomen t is onaverage 15 per centless with peaks of 35per cent less forthose with higherqualifications(Eurostat, abourForce Survey). Thediscrimination insalaries, accordingto a recentreportfrom Federmanager(National Federationof IndustrialCompanyManagers),is one of the mainreasons forthe lownumber of womenmanagers in Italy,where their numbercontinues todiminish compared



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AccordingoTizianaVettor,Feministeflectionsndpracticesanrepresentnimportantlementnbreakingithheories fwork. or xample,hepracticef"starting rom neself" nd self-narrationas already teered hedirectionof omerecentignificantesearchn work.nfact, tsuggests methodologyfresearch hich ests tselfwithheprimacyfself-narrationnd, herefore,heprimacyfsubjectivitiesor heinterpretationfreality. hepractice f self-narrationoftellingurselveslongwith thers hat urrelationshipithworkconsists f,whatneeds nddesireswe investnit,both ntheworkplacendelsewherehasalreadyhowntselfo be fruitfulndshatteringn nalysinghetransformationsf work.This practice,moreover, believe is even moreshatteringhan hat fmaking emands;notherwords,ncomparisonith hattypeof actionwhich,nstead, s based merelyn demandingights. hat sbecause t is only y hepractice fasking uestionsbouttheexperiencesfworkingeople preciselyyvirtue fbecomingware fthe ndividualnd,byextension,ollectivexperiencethat nventionsf udicial ormslegalandbynegotiation)nd/or equests or fficient,ontextualndpertinentnstitutionalmediation an emerge'.MartaBonetti mphasizes,however,hat this processis not withouttsdifficultiesnd dangers:Each and everyime here s a need to givea newmeaningo ourownexperience, e drawon the practice f "starting romoneself", practicewhichcceptsambiguitynd ambivalences a heuristicvalue and which enews tselfwith imeagainst nd beyond ichotomousrsimplifyingisions.The experiencef women'swork s rich n and full ofambivalence nd ambiguity.s is shown yvariouspiecesof research,ndconfirmedy toriesoldbymany omen, orkanbe,for xample, source fidentification.n he onehand, hepracticef worksdescribeds a pleasure,as an "experiencefbirth",3ery eautiful,ike ove.On heother,heriskstobe envelopedn t,totally nd increasinglyo, becauseofthephenomenonfsurplusffectionnwhich omen emain ixed'.4But t is preciselyn this risk hat TizianaVettor ees rathern investmentncivilizationywomen t work,epresentedy heir lacingt thecentre f theworkxperienceheprimacyfrelations.Inthisprimacyecantrace, nfact,the most hatteringlementnthe feminisationfwork,ince uch relationalinvestments what ontrasts r "breaks"mostwith he identityraditionallyascribed o men nwork. nd, ndeed,women on'tacceptwork nthe abourmarketwhere he measure f this s money) s a fundamentallement fidentity. hey re inwork,fat all, as a surplus r to recognizehe humanconnectionst the centre f theworkingnvironment'.Theprocessbywhich hissurplus eallybecomes onflictualnd potentiallytransformatives not nany ense implendlinear.As Cristina orinitresses,'In the newproduction rocesses, he differencesmplicitn nomadic ndirreducibleubjects re "properlysed" and become productiveactor. t is

Sconvegnofeminist review 87 2007 107

with hat of theirmale colleagues. The'glass ceiling', aconcept used in theliterature oindicate a 'block' toequal access formenand women o thehighest rungson thecareer ladder, stillseems to persist.

3 As emphasized byLia Cigarini n Larivoluzione nattesa,1997, Pratiche,Milan.4 Adriana Nanniciniin Le parole perfarlo. Donne allavoro nel Postfordismo, 002,Derive e Approdi,Rome. She showshowoftenthelanguage of love isused to describe anexperiencethat hasnothing f thesentimental boutit.



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true hat,on the onehand, heprocessesre aimed t the standardizationfknowledge,t makingt into a sort of objectwhich an immediatelyetransmittednd reduced o a 'thing'. nthe other and, here reexperiencesand unique motions, hichmakeus all individuallyifferent,nd whichreessential lementsn ourrespectiveharacters.t is notust by hance hatwecan speak of subjectivityt work.To some extent, ll these acts in theinformationconomyetain he mark ftheperson erforminghem,nd t s inthis hatthere s theaspectofsurplus.Whenhe differenceecomes seful othe ccumulationfcapital ttends o lose tsown pposing, rimitivealue ndis transformednto n objectwithinheprocesses f capitalist evelopment.Moreover,heattempto reifyhe ndividuals defective romhe tart ecauseit excludes hecompletetandardizationftheperson.Aperson's nowledge,experiencesnd emotions annotbe fullyransmittedeyondhefieldof theexperiencetself. t s at thispoint reciselyhat he urplusan take hape ndnewforms f withdrawalnd liberationan begin'.

subjectivities at work, precarious identities andnew forms of representationThosewhomade heir irst himpern he arly 970s elongo a generationhatwe definen talian s 'scollinante': aughtersf thebaby-boomersdestined,intheory,o receivewelfare enefits romradle o grave.Wefound urselvesinstead nteringn atypicalabourmarketndtryingo do the bestwecould odeal with virtuallyholly recariousxistence. rom hisparticularoint fview,t spossible, efeel, odevelop pacesto transformhecurrentituation,as Cristinaajanialso stresses: If it is truethat works precarious ithoutdistinction,t is also true hatthere s a generation thethirty-somethingswhichtarts ffwith differentNA, hichees work nd thetradeunionsnlythroughheeyesofprecaritynd this s a realchange'.Takinghese nalyses s our tartingoint,wewonderedhethernd f o,whattype frepresentationtwouldmake ense to talk abouttoday,whatrole hetradeunions ouldhave tartingrom hat s currentlyheir oncrete ractice,how o defendndupdate he oldrightsnd how o imaginendconstructhe'new'ones.It is now videnthat thetradition f enteringntocollectiveontractshatattributed rimacyo the trade union s makingway for newforms fagreements5nd,together,ewpracticesnour truggles.ccordingoCristinaTajani,WhoeverhoughtfandorganizedheMayday6or he firstimehit hemark,imingt that spectof dentificationhichxists nthe worldfyoungpeople nd precarious eople, t a generationalubjectivitycross he board.TheMaydaymovementnew ow o look, uccessfully,eyondheorganizational

108 feminist review 87 2007 snapshotnprecariousness

5 Increasingly,contracts andagreements areindividual notcollective. Knowingyour own contractand comparing your



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forms fpoliticsnd the movement.heproblemccurswhen ou ake a stepback:yousee you've hrown stone a longwayout infront, ou'vebrokenthroughhe imaginary,ou'vemanaged o makecontactwith hepeopleyouwanted o make ontactwithnd theproblemshen risewhen ouwant obringback the organisationalorms. should iketo try o turn he question frepresentationn its head and use rather he term articipation.ow an wetoday create participationver the issues of work, rganizationr self-organizationr the representationf precariousubjectivities? here t ispossible o combine articipationndrepresentation,heproblemsurroundingthe latterfall bythewayside.Where articipationunctions,t is easiertodiscuss hetheme frepresentation'.But ntherelationshipetweenarticipation/representation,he heoreticalndpractical ositions iffer. ccordingo Zoe, Representationomposedfroles,rules ndpre-set estrictionsemainsnemptyhell implyecause hecapacityfor having eopleparticipate"oes not xist.AsChainworkersCW)7 emanagea Punto an Precarioa centre orprecarious orkers)nMilan linked ith omany thers cross hewhole f taly andwe do indeedwork nparticipation,tryingogethero inventnd think pnew ormsndstrategies,ew evers orcommunicationoth utside nd withinheworkingnvironment.ornstance,ntwo egalactionswe'repromoting,espite he essential lements or disputebeing here, he workersurned o us, becausethe unions' awyerseemedreluctanto be aggressivendget into realfight.When ealingwith hesesame ssueswith hePunto anPrecarioawyers,e lso considerhepart layedby ommunicationnd maginary.hepoints not implyhefighttselfeven fit willmakeuswin he action or welvemonths'alary rbeing akenback onagain),butratherhatofmanagingo oinforces ndfightogether,ecause tis only by doing so that we will manage to achieve anything. he"accompaniment"ork eperformimsto create ndincrease ommunicationbetween eople:weask them otelltheir wn toryo the otherworkersnd topeople utside, venbyusinghe media.Because t sonly ymakingompaniestremblendbygiving isibilityo currentegal ctions, isputesndfights,hatwidespread eakness, earandfragmentationan be defeated.The aim is tochangeways fthinkingo that,when ougoto work omewherelse,the samesituation oesn't rise all over gain.A transformationhich lso occurs iacommunication:The languageof the trade unions eemedobsoleteto uscompared ith he anguage f the "MTV eneration",ecause often or hem,combating recaritys translated/reducedo a returno "permanentmploy-ment".Whilehethirty-somethingenerationants o beflexible,hisdoes notmean hatwe do notwant omekinds f ecurity. hats themeaningf todayprecarity,omorrowork"8 hen heprecarious ork lso whenhey on'tworkbecausethey'reookingor mployment?t'shigh imefor he tradeunions orevampheir racticesnd,rather han peakingf"permanentmployment",


experiences withother workers tounderstanddifferences andsimilarities isalready a step in theright direction. Itmakes it possible toacquire morestrength, awarenessand legitimacy inentering into anindividualnegotiation, whichsees us all asprotagonists.6 www.euromayday.org.

7 www.chainworkers.org.

8 The quotation wason electionpropaganda sloganof the left-wing



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theyhouldpeakof he ontinuityf ncome. his eryackoffightingpiritndcommunicationn thepart f he radeunions asput hebrakes n nvolvementwithprecarious orkers rom he outset: f there re no subjectivitieshichinvestnan action,which oncern hemselvesbouttheir wn ituation, hichare not fraid o claim ome ort f ncome,hen here s noway fmakingnyprogress'.From ll these tories,t can be seenhowmany recarious eople re intouchwith ach other, xperimentingith ollectivetrategieso protectach otherand createconflict.9owever,here s tension etween he blackmail o whichtheymighte exposedf t s they lonewho re involved,nd thedifficultyfcreatinglliancesto buildup sufficienteighto become n effectiveorceagainst the opponent.As AndreaFumagalli rgues well: 'The enormousfragmentationhichxists nworkplaces eansblackmailnd fear.Apart romindividualization,owever,here s individuality,hich mean as a positivefactor,s well s thepersonal ichness hichveryone ould ike o show ndinsertntoevery orm f social and collective ooperation. believe t is nolonger nough o start off from he individualworkplaceo resolvethecontradictionsf the various ctivities nvolvedn theworkingrocess: hiswould still be a trade unionFordist-typef claim. We could talk aboutimaginariesfunrest nd maginariesf he radeunions;t s here hat he inkbetween articipationnd representationxists. Becauseparticipationomesaboutwhere ractices,ormsforganizationnd action xistwhichre felt o becongruentith eeds ndaspirations;t would enecessaryo force urselvesorethink he trade unionstructurend organizerepresentationo enableparticipation. e can't ust say: "Let's createparticipation".hemovementknew ow o create t,butparticipationithoutrospectsnd outlets ends orun ut of steam.Perhapsffortshould e made odevelop orms f"counter-power" oth nterms f needsas well as imaginaryecause forms f socialcontrolouch nboth fthese'.

guaranteed income: between money, servicesand communitiesIna sense, t is preciselyheextensionfprecaritynto ll aspectsofour ivesthatforces sto invent ew reas ofexperimentation:nthe haringfhousing,theredefinitionfemotionalelations,ormsfconsumptionnd thecreationfnewrelationshipsf trust nd cooperation. hisfragmentaryrchipelagofpracticesxists ndopensupnew ormsffreedomndself-determination,utitruns he risk fremainingimitedothe pheref he ndividualr mall roupandnotbeing eenorperceivedor tspolitical ignificance.n heother and,and at thesametime,we nonetheless orkwelve ours day, n ourdailystruggle etween aying he bills implacably igiddeadlinesforthis) and

110 feminist review 87 2007 snapshotn recariousness

Democratici diSinistra in theParliamentaryelections in April2006.

9 An importantexperiment in thissense was that ofSerpica Naro madeup of precariouspeople (www.serpicanaro.org).Serpica Naro is ananagram of SanPrecario and is thename given to adress designerinvented byactivists. She tookpart with one of hercollections at pressconferences andfashion shows duringMilan's prestigiousfashion week.



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receivingur salary (moreflexible iminghere!); when we have to giveguaranteesor urmortgagernotgo overdrawnt thebank, here s nothingelse we can do butgo andask mum nd dad forhelp and obviouslynly orthose who can do this). Howdo we keep walkingust to stand still? s acontinuedncome he answer?Cristinaajani xplains er ositions follows:AsCGILConfederazioneeneraleItalianadelLavoro),longwith varietyf other eople, tookpart na studyof a regional roposal n citizenshipncomewhichttemptedo combine hefinancialspectwith ccessto services.'o o have ucceedednthis enturesaresult f what hemovementsavebeendoing hesepastfewyears, sign f anew maginaryhich s being reated nd of the fact that sometaboos haveperhaps owbeen broken.oday,hepolitical rena s more luid nddifferentpeople argue bout workndprecarity.oget out oftheconflictingituationwhere everyones in their wnhousedefendingheir wnposition",t isfundamentalo developa commonanguage:the ability o work owardsopenness,more luid ituationsndpolitical ractices'.Inresponseothis, oeunderlineshe mportancef how he ssueof ncome splaced politicallyn the publicdebate,an issue that lends tself asilytomisunderstandings.It is importanto be very areful boutclearly ositioningthe debate on citizenshipncomebecause there s the risk hat it willbetranslatednto sortof"handout"whichwill,however,ntail reductionnservices. would ike hecreativitynd the ymbolicspect put nchangingheimaginarylementnotto be expressedn terms f money. hedebate onflexicurity"ims at guaranteeing, iventhe flexibilityf life and work,continuityn access to services, tructuresnd transport;r to be moreprecise,o makepossible he connectionshere re in ife, n towns nd in thecountry.'Andrea umagallindsby mphasizingow: The erritory,neffect,stoday heproductionlace, ustas thefactory asthirty ears go: it hasbecome, s anetworkfterritories,he site oftheflows ftangiblend ntangiblessets andit s there hatwe have ocreate restructuringt rootevel.Wehave o be ableto initiate "tradeunion ispute"o that t can become struggleoguaranteeincome ndthequalityf ife environment,ervices,ocial nteraction,ousing,accessto communication,tc.). I believet is vital o move owardslaimingnew orm fwelfare, ith structurelocal,nationalr upra-nationalwhichwill llow ontinuedncome eyondhe relative overtyine.A form f welfarewhichmustnotbe confused ith purelymonetaryystem,ut one which illguaranteeervices, ecause t is on these hatourfreedomo manage urowntime, o choosewhichrofessionalath opursuendwhat oproduce epends.Therighto choose particularob istodaymuchmore rucial han herightowork. nd his sthe ynchpin.he workerist"ptions to thinkhat herightowork s the "open sesame" to obtainingtherrightsnd effectiveiberties.


10 CGIL is one of thethree main tradeunions in Italy. Formore information onthe experiments inItaly, visit www.sinistriprogetti.it. For those inLombardy, visitwww.redditolombar-dia.org

11 Flexicurity refersto the definition ofthe politics ofwelfare and work(now two sides ofthe same coin thattraditional politicsstubbornly keepsseparate) aimed atcombining socialsecurity andflexibility (actedupon) for work. It isfounded on two mainobjectives: theguarantee ofcontinuity in income- direct (in the formof money) andindirect (in the formof primary services)- and thesimplification of thelabour market(minimum hourlyrate for staffwithout a contractand a reduction inthe types ofcontract). These are



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Today, think hat therighto choose a particularob is the cornerstoneohaving ights.'author biographySconvegnos a feministollective f six womenntheir hirties, orkingndlivingn Milan.Wefirstmetsixyears go to organize seminar bout thedifferenteaningsfbeing feministoday. ince hen,wehavebeenmeetingregularlyn ourhomesndworkplaces. e re motivatedy ur wn xperiencesto try o understand,ndpossiblyransform,hat xists round s, inorderothinknd act politically.We focuson the ambivalent,nclear nd potentialcharacterof the issue of precariousness/flexibility,temming romthetransformationfwork/lifes wedaily xperiencet.Accordingo each ofus,Sconvegnos a politicalpace/timehat urpresencereates, laboratoryhereemotions nd experiencesecome reading ey o interpretheworld.As agroup eare nvolvednrelated etworksnd collectiverojectst nationalndtransnationalevels.doi: 0.1057/palgrave.fr.400368

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measures that havelittle or nothing todo with theacademic concept offlexsecurity, a termthat, in thelanguage of thejournalist, refers topolicies devised bygovernments, oftenaimed at workfarepolitics. For more onthe subject, cf.Andrea Fumagalli 'Laproposta dellaflexicurity' inCorbelli, V. andNaletto, G. (2005)editors, Atlante diun'altra economia,Rome:Manifestolibri,75-84.

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Feminist Review 87 Snapshot of Precariousness