Review article
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol54no208
Transformation of the (Idea) of Work: From Theoretical Discussions of New Capitalism to Qualitative Research in the Croatian Post-transition Context
Ozren Biti
; Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Zagreb
Mislav Žitko
; Odsjek za filozofiju, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
This article offers an overview of theoretical arguments about the transformation of work, based on the notions of flexibilization and precarization that have recently become prominent in academic and public discourse. On the one hand, a common core of arguments offered by theorists such as Beck, Sennett and Bauman is highlighted, and, on the other, attention is drawn to interpretative deficiencies in what can roughly be classified – in line with Doogan’s reasoning – as “post-Marxist discourse”. This is done by providing empirically based insights that call into question the soundness of some of the most significant claims from this corpus of literature, still dominant in the leftist academic tradition. An attempt is made to describe the transformation of work in Croatia in the (post)-transition period, starting with an overview of Croatian sociological research. The paper then presents a selection of ethnographic contributions to the field, and shows that quantitative aspects of the transformation of work (and/or the labor market) may be augmented by a broad spectrum of qualitative research. It is precisely in this interplay between sociology and cultural anthropology/ethnology that a more meaningful analysis of the transformation of work in the Croatian post-transition society can be performed; an analysis that would provide a better connection between the world of work and the world of life.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
191271
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2017.
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