Unemployment and Informal Economy in Croatia: Discourse Analysis

Sažetak

The paper uses cultural and discourse analysis to present the narrative (discursive) elements of unemployment and informal economy in Croatia today. Research has pointed to the metaphorical usage as well as the ambiguity of deeply rooted elements characterising media and colloquial discourse on unemployment and the unemployed. Both the media and the personal accounts of the unemployed perpetuate the image of the unemployed exclusively as suffering people. On the other hand, practice and direct experience of unemployment present a more heterogeneous picture. Although long-term unemployment in Croatia is largely not the result of personal choice, victimization discourse concerning unemployment and the unemployed does not always concur with the practices and direct experiences of one’s (long-term) formal unemployment.