PROWORK - Projectifying work: network organisation models in contemporary capitalist societies

Abstract

Contemporary capitalist societies have undergone important and significant transformations in recent decades, the last of which was marked by the aftermath of a financial, economic and social crisis, with different consequences for labour markets and the organisation of work in various countries worldwide, and in which the present has been cut across by a pandemic crisis, on a global level, with evident impacts on work, the scope of which still needs to be appraised. While the literature on the labour market, especially on precariousness and flexibility is extensive (Kalleberg 2009; Castel 2009), literature focussing on models of management and organisation of work and labour relations is scarce (Lundin et al. 2015). Among these models, project work stands out. By project work we mean a temporary structure for organising work which has specific impacts on work relationships and individual performances. In some economic sectors and professions, such as architecture and scientific research, it constitutes the main historical mode of organising work (Boutinet 1990; Greer, Samaluk and Umney 2019), but in other areas it has been increasingly adopted as a mechanism for furthering more flexible work modalities, work relationships and worspaces (Eftaxiopoulos 2022). This research aims to analyse modes of projectification (Lundin et al. 2015; Kuura 2011; 2020) and the way in which they are part of renewed modalities for the organisation of contemporary capitalist societies and have spread to a wide range of sectors of economic activity and professions.