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FrancoAngeli Journals

Is work not working anymore? Futures of work and meaningfulness of work in post-industrial scenarios

2026

Is work not working anymore? Negotiating meaning, boundaries and new practices of work in the ruins of employment

  • Costanza Guazzo
  • Gianmarco Peterlongo
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/SL2026-174001
Inviata
24 luglio 2026
Pubblicato
26-08-2026

Abstract

Questo articolo esamina l’evoluzione del rapporto tra soggettività e lavoro nelle società post-industriali contemporanee, concentrandosi sulle modalità con cui le lavoratrici e i lavoratori rinegoziano il significato, i confini e le pratiche dell’occupazione a fronte dell’erosione strutturale del lavoro stabile. Ricorrendo alla metafora delle “rovine”, sosteniamo che il declino della Standard Employment Relationship non ha prodotto un semplice collasso delle identità centrate sul lavoro, bensì un processo stratificato di decadimento e riconfigurazione; in esso, le aspettative morali legate all'impiego persistono, nonostante le loro fondamenta materiali siano state progressivamente minate. All'interno di queste rovine, nuovi interrogativi e una re-immaginazione delle priorità sociali hanno spinto alcuni individui a ripensare il legame con la propria occupazione, aprendo spazi di possibilità in cui i contorni di un nuovo mondo del lavoro iniziano potenzialmente, seppur in modo non uniforme, a prendere forma. Sebbene spesso frammentati, questi spazi di possibilità rivelano tentativi di ridefinire il significato, i perimetri e le condizioni del lavoro, nel tentativo di stabilire una relazione più sostenibile a partire dalle “rovine dell'occupazione stabile”.

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