Author:
Stefan Brandt | University of Hamburg | Germany
Against the background of precarisation (Castel 2002) and neoliberalization (Bourdieu 1998) as central developments in the process of modernization, changes in wage labour and the restructuring of western welfare states have been much discussed in the past two decades. To describe the social consequences of changes in wage labour the assumption of an interrelation between ‘integration through work’ and ‘integration through networks’ (Castel 2002) is crucial. Although the importance of this interrelation is repeatedly emphasized theoretically, it is hardly been analyzed empirically.
In a subjective sense precarity is based on perceptions and interpretations of individuals. Since these perceptions are shaped in accordance with the immediate environment of individuals they can be seen as relational (Marquardsen 2015: 150). Therefore social support and social network structures affect perceptions of individuals twofold: positive and negative. Whereas stable networks and positive support can reduce negative perceptions of wage labour situations, ‘not being able to keep up with one’s immediate environment’ (Marquardsen 2015) as well as a lack of reciprocity due to material hardship (Gefken 2017) and disenchanted support expectancies (Laireiter/Lettner 1993) can reinforce perceptions of wage labour situations as being precarious.
Yet given that subjective perceptions of individuals are closely linked with specific practices in their respective lifeworlds, these perceptions are ‘not easily accessible to them by reflection’ (Bohnsack/Nentwig-Gesemann/Nohl, 2007: 11). As a consequence implicit and atheoretical knowledge on how wage labour situations are percepted only can be made accessible by reconstructing how these situations are elaborated on, and in which framework of orientation these situations are dealt with (Nohl 2010).Taking dynamics of social network structures and social support into consideration in this context serves as part of a complex comparative analysis that aims to disclose specific interrelations between ‘integration through work’ and ‘integration through networks’ .
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