How are the life paths of modern precarious workers articulated? How do workers experience their inclusion in flexible, informal, and precarious forms of employment, and how do they make sense of the world of work based on these experiences? How does labor flexibility and precarity affect the formation of professional identities? This research presented in the book attempts to answer these questions and is based on a multi-layered analysis of life stories of contemporary workers, produced within the framework of narrative interviews.

Through the perspective, experiences, and voice of workers, the complexity of living flexible and precarious forms of work is highlighted, as well as the multiplicity of strategies that actors activate to cope with these. Furthermore, the dynamic and non-standardized ways in which the life paths of contemporary workers are structured, as well as the variety of processes involved in the formation of professional identities, are revealed. The empirical research draws theoretical frameworks from the rich dialogue occurring in the field of social sciences around the "transformations" of work and changes in work relations.

Contents

• Index of Tables
• Index of Figures
• Index of Frameworks
• Introduction
• Theoretical Approaches to Contemporary Transformations in the World of Work
• Precarity, Subjectivation, and Professional Identity
• Flexible and Precarious Forms of Employment in Greece
• Methodological Approach and Choice of Methods
• Quality Control Procedures of the Research Process
• Originality and Contribution of the Research
• The Integration of Studies into Life Paths
• Ways of Transitioning from Education to Work
• The Structuring of Work Paths
• Biographical Dynamics and Experiences of Precarity in a Transforming Work Landscape
• Changing Balances between Demands for Stability or Quality of Work in a Transforming Environment
• Precarious Employment and Biographical Plans
• Standardizations of the World of Work under Flexible and Precarious Employment Regimes
• Professional Identities in a Deregulated Work Field
• Conclusion: Prompts for Theoretical Reflection and Development of Policy Positions
• Bibliography
• Appendix: Biographical Profiles of Participants in the Research