Collective Representation and Citizenship at Work in a Project Context
This article is part of a broader effort to take a fresh look at citizenship at work in the contemporary world of work. The authors draw on Bosniak’s social theory of citizenship to study two groups of workers (videogame developers and performance artists) whose occupations embody similar characteristics: knowledge work which is highly qualified, mobile and organized by project. With knowledge work growing in importance in developed countries, we must account for the fact that the knowledge worker is not the same economically dependent subject as the industrial citizen, whose skills were easily replaceable. While industrial organizations are built on dividing the conception and execution of work, knowledge work mobilizes the whole of the worker, rather than mobilizing only his/her manpower, in a creative process of innovation that takes place in a very competitive labour market where the creative contribution of the worker is a decisive asset. The authors study the contemporary representation gap among knowledge workers and the ways they participate in the regulation of their work, both locally and on a social scale. They draw on two case studies of project-based environments where highly qualified workers are constantly swapping fixed-term contracts, instead of enjoying stable open-ended contracts. Faced with collective problems and issues, they develop original means to participate in regulating their work that do not involve unions. Discussion of findings highlights the emergence not only of new modes of representation, but also of a new citizen at work, who is seeking different rights and benefits than those of the industrial citizen of the Fordist era and, furthermore, in an area that goes beyond that of the employer organization.