Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T17:18:45.702Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Precariousness, youth and political participation: the emergence of a new political cleavage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2018

Lara Monticelli Open the ORCID record for Lara Monticelli [Opens in a new window]  and
Matteo Bassoli Open the ORCID record for Matteo Bassoli [Opens in a new window]
Lara Monticelli*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School
Matteo Bassoli
Affiliation:
School of Law, eCampus Online University
*
*Corresponding author. Email: monticelli.lara@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The article aims at disentangling the existing relation between job precariousness and political participation at the individual level illustrating that the former can be considered an emerging political cleavage. The authors apply an interpretive framework typical of political participation studies to an original data set composed of two groups of young workers (with precarious and open-ended contracts) in a big Italian post-industrial city, Turin. First, applying a confirmatory factor analysis, a typology of three ‘modes’ of political participation – voting, collective action, and political consumerism – is used to reduce data complexity. Second, logistic regressions are deployed to analyze the role played by occupational status, political positioning, and the interaction between the two, on the different modes of political participation. Precarious youth show a higher level of political participation in representational behaviours (voting). Left-wing youth are generally more active than non-left-wing ones in non-representational behaviours (collective actions and consumerism), the impact is more pronounced for precarious young people. Thus, results demonstrate the relevance of occupational status in explaining patterns of participation and invite scholars to promote a dialogue between industrial relations and political participation studies.

Keywords

job precariousnesspolitical cleavagepolitical participationcollective actionvotingconsumerism
Type
Research Article
Information
Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 99 - 113
Copyright
© Società Italiana di Scienza Politica 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alberti, G, Holgate, J Tapia, M (2013) Organising migrants as workers or as migrant workers? Intersectionality, trade unions and precarious work. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(22): 4132–4148.Google Scholar
Anderson, CJ (2001) Desperate times call for desperate measures? in N Bermeo (ed.). Unemployment in the New Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 271–290.Google Scholar
Baglioni, S, Baumgarten, B, Chabanet, D Lahusen, C (2008) Transcending marginalization: the mobilization of the unemployed in France, Germany, and Italy in a comparative perspective. Mobilization 13(3): 323–335.Google Scholar
Baglioni, S, della Porta, D Graziano, P (2008) The contentious politics of unemployment: the Italian case in comparative perspective. European Journal of Political Research 47(6): 827–851.Google Scholar
Barbieri, P (2011) Italy: no country for young men (and women): the Italian way of coping with increasing demands for labour market flexibility and rising welfare problems, in H-P Blossfeld, S Buchholz, D Hofäcker and K Kolb (eds). Globalized Labour Markets and Social Inequality in Europe. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 108–145.Google Scholar
Bassoli, M (2017) Catholic versus communist: an ongoing issue—the role of organizational affiliation in accessing the policy arena. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 28, 1135–1156.Google Scholar
Bassoli, M Monticelli, L (2017) What about the welfare state? Exploring precarious youth political participation in the age of grievances. Acta Politica (Online first). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-017-0047-z.Google Scholar
Bassoli, M, Monticelli, L Pincella, C (2011) Valori, partecipazione e produzione culturale nei circoli giovanili ARCI: una ricerca comparativa nella provincia di Mantova. Milano: FrancoAngeli.Google Scholar
Bay, A-H Blekesaune, M (2002) Youth, unemployment and political marginalisation. International Journal of Social Welfare 11(2): 132–139.Google Scholar
Brady, HE, Verba, S Schlozman, KL (1995) Beyond SES: a resource model of political participation. The American Political Science Review 89(2): 271–294.Google Scholar
Bruno, GSF, Caroleo, FE Dessy, O (2014) Temporary contracts and young workers’ job satisfaction in Italy, in MÁ Malo and D Sciulli (eds). Disadvantaged Workers. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 95–120.Google Scholar
Castañeda, E (2012) The Indignados of Spain: a precedent to occupy wall street. Social Movement Studies 11(3–4): 309–319.Google Scholar
Coffé, H Bolzendahl, C (2010) Same game, different rules? Gender differences in political participation. Sex Roles 62(5–6): 318–333.Google Scholar
Corbetta, P Colloca, P (2013) Job precariousness and political orientations: the case of Italy. South European Society and Politics 18(3): 333–354.Google Scholar
Della Porta, D, Silvasti, T, Hänninen, S Siisiäinen, M (eds) (2016) The New Social Division: Making and Unmaking Precariousness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
De Witte, H Näswall, K (2003) ‘Objective’ vs ‘Subjective’ job insecurity: consequences of temporary work for job satisfaction and organizational commitment in four European countries. Economic and Industrial Democracy 24(2): 149–188.Google Scholar
Demazière, D Pignoni, MT (1998) Chômeurs–du silence à la révolte: sociologie d’une action collective. Paris: Hachette littératures.Google Scholar
Diamanti, I (2009) Mappe dell’Italia politica: bianco, rosso, verde, azzurro–e tricolore. Bologna: Il mulino.Google Scholar
Doerr, N, Mattoni, A Teune, S (2015) Visuals in social movements, in D Della Porta and M Diani (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Social Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Driskell, R, Embry, E Lyon, L (2008) Faith and politics: the influence of religious beliefs on political participation. Social Science Quarterly 89(2): 294–314.Google Scholar
Emmenegger, P, Marx, P Schraff, D (2015) Labour market disadvantage, political orientations and voting: how adverse labour market experiences translate into electoral behaviour. Socio-Economic Review 13(2): 189–213.Google Scholar
Eggert, N Giugni, M (2010) Does associational involvement Spur political integration? Political interest and participation of three immigrant groups in Zurich. Swiss Political Science Review 16(2): 175–210.Google Scholar
Eichhorst, W Marx, P (eds) (2015) Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets: An Occupational Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Forno, F Graziano, PR (2014) Sustainable community movement organisations. Journal of Consumer Culture 14(2): 139–157.Google Scholar
Gamson, WA (1968) Stable unrepresentation in American society. American Behavioral Scientist 12(2): 15–21.Google Scholar
Gebel, M Giesecke, J (2011) Labor market flexibility and inequality: the changing skill-based temporary employment and unemployment risks in Europe. Social Forces 90(1): 17–39.Google Scholar
Giugni, M (2010) The Contentious Politics of Unemployment in Europe: Welfare States and Political Opportunities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Harvey, G, Rhodes, C, Vachhani, SJ Williams, K (2016) Neo-villeiny and the service sector: the case of hyper flexible and precarious work in fitness centres. Work, Employment and Society 31(1): 19–35.Google Scholar
Hirschman, AO (1970) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty; Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Jessoula, M, Graziano, PR Madama, I (2010) ‘Selective Flexicurity’ in segmented labour markets: the case of Italian ‘mid-siders’. Journal of Social Policy 39(4): 561–583.Google Scholar
Kern, A, Marien, S Hooghe, M (2015) Economic crisis and levels of political participation in Europe (2002–2010): the role of resources and grievances. West European Politics 38(3): 465–490.Google Scholar
Keune, M (2015) Trade unions, precarious work and dualisation in Europe, in W Eichhorst and P Marx (eds). Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 378–400.Google Scholar
Kriesi, H (2010) Restructuration of partisan politics and the emergence of a new cleavage based on values. West European Politics 33(3): 673–685.Google Scholar
Kriesi, H, Grande, E, Lachat, R, Dolezal, M, Bornschier, S Frey, T (2006) Globalization and the transformation of the national political space: six European countries compared. European Journal of Political Research 45(6): 921–956.Google Scholar
La Due Lake, R Huckfeldt, R (1998) Social capital, social networks, and political participation. Political Psychology 19(3): 567–584.Google Scholar
Lahusen, C (2013) The protests of the unemployed in France, Germany and Sweden (1994–2004): protest dynamics and political contexts. Social Movement Studies 12(1): 1–22.Google Scholar
Lazarsfeld, PF, Jahoda, M Zeisel, H (1981) Les chômeurs de Marienthal. Paris: Éditions de Minuit.Google Scholar
Lima, MdPC Artiles, AM (2013) Youth voice(s) in EU countries and social movements in southern Europe. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 19(3): 345–364.Google Scholar
Lodovici, MS Semenza, R (eds) (2012) Precarious Work and High-Skilled Youth in Europe . Vol. 937. Milan: FrancoAngeli.Google Scholar
Lodovici, M Semenza, R (eds) (2012) Precarious Work and High-Skilled Youth in Europe. Milano, Italy: FrancoAngeli.Google Scholar
Lorenzini, J Bassoli, M (2015) Gender ideology: the last barrier to womens participation in political consumerism? International Journal of Comparative Sociology 56, 460–483.Google Scholar
Lorenzini, J Giugni, M (2012) Employment status, social capital, and political participation: a comparison of unemployed and employed youth in Geneva. Swiss Political Science Review 18(3): 332–351.Google Scholar
Malin, BJ Chandler, C (2016) Free to work anxiously: splintering precariousness among drivers for Uber and Lyft. Communication, Culture & Critique 10(2): 382–400.Google Scholar
Marien, S, Hooghe, M Quintelier, E (2010) Inequalities in non-institutionalised forms of political participation: a multi-level analysis of 25 countries. Political Studies 58(1): 187–213.Google Scholar
Marx, P (2014) The insider-outsider divide and economic voting: testing a new theory with German electoral data. Socio-Economic Review 14(1): 97–118.Google Scholar
Marx, P Picot, G (2013) The party preferences of atypical workers in Germany. Journal of European Social Policy 23(2): 164–178.Google Scholar
Mattoni, A (2016) Media Practices and Protest Politics: How Precarious Workers Mobilise. London; New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mattoni, A Doerr, N (2007) Images within the precarity movement in Italy. Feminist Review 87(1): 130–135.Google Scholar
Mattoni, A Vogiatzoglou, M (2014) Italy and Greece, before and after the crisis: between mobilization and resistance against precarity. Quaderni. Communication, technologies, pouvoir, 84, 57–71.Google Scholar
Maurer, S Mayer, N (2001) Les chômeurs en action, (décembre 1997-mars 1998) mobilisation collective et ressources compensatoires. Paris: Montréal; Budapest: l’Harmattan.Google Scholar
McFarland, DA Thomas, RJ (2006) Bowling young: how youth voluntary associations influence adult political participation. American Sociological Review 71(3): 401–425.Google Scholar
Micheletti, M (2003) Political Virtue and Shopping: Individuals. Consumerism and Collective Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Milkman, R Ott, E (eds) (2014) New Labor in New York: Precarious Workers and the Future of the Labor Movement. Ithaca: ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Monticelli, L Bassoli, M (2016) Precarious voices? Types of “political citizens” and repertoires of action among European youth. PArtecipazione e COnflitto 9(3): 824–856.Google Scholar
Monticelli, L, Baglioni, S Bassoli, M (2016) In a world that does not belong to me. Recounting unemployment experiences of Italian youth in times of crisis, in C Lahusen and M Giugni (eds). Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe. Youth on the Edge. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Murgia, A Armano, E (eds) (2012) Mappe della precarieta. Spazi, rappresentazioni, esperienze e critica delle politiche del lavoro che cambia. Bologna: I libri di Emil.Google Scholar
Ogris, G Westphal, S (2005) Political Participation of Young People in Europe – Development of Indicators for Comparative Research in the European Union, deliverable to the European Commission. Retrieved 18 February 2012 from http://www.sora.at/fileadmin/images/content/Pages/euyoupart_ergebnisse_finalcomparativereport.pdf.Google Scholar
Pavlopoulos, D (2013) Starting your career with a fixed-term job: stepping-stone or ‘dead end’? Review of Social Economy 71(4): 474–501.Google Scholar
Picchio, M (2012) The dynamics of unemployment, temporary and permanent employment in Italy, in T Addabbo and G Solinas (eds). Non-Standard Employment and Quality of Work. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag HD, pp. 127–147.Google Scholar
Piven, FF Cloward, RA (1977) Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Pizzorno, A (1966) Introduzione allo studio della partecipazione politica. Quaderni Di Sociologia 15(3/4): 235–287.Google Scholar
Polavieja, JG (1999) How do labour market experiences affect political attitudes? Analysing the political effects of labour market dualisation in Spain. Estudio Working Paper, Juan March Institute of Study and Research (142), Madrid.Google Scholar
Putnam, R (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Scherer, S (2001) Early career patterns: a comparison of Great Britain and West Germany. European Sociological Review 17(2): 119–144.Google Scholar
Scherer, S (2004) Stepping-stones or traps?: The consequences of labour market entry positions on future careers in West Germany, Great Britain and Italy. Work, Employment & Society 18(2): 369–394.Google Scholar
Schlozman, KL, Burns, N Verba, S (1994) Gender and the pathways to participation: the role of resources. The Journal of Politics 56(4): 963–990.Google Scholar
Schlozman, KL, Burns, N Verba, S (1999) ‘What happened at work today?’: A multistage model of gender, employment, and political participation. The Journal of Politics 61(1): 29–53.Google Scholar
Schur, L (2003) Employment and the creation of an active citizenry. British Journal of Industrial Relations 41(4): 751–771.Google Scholar
Silvasti T and Hänninen N (2016) Giving up farming as a precarious decision, in Della Porta D, Silvasti T, Hänninen S and Siisiäinen M (eds). The New Social Division: Making and Unmaking Precariousness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 159–176.Google Scholar
Solt, F (2008) Economic inequality and democratic political engagement. American Journal of Political Science 52(1): 48–60.Google Scholar
Stolle, D Hooghe, M (2011) Shifting inequalities: patterns of exclusion and inclusion in emerging forms of political participation. European Societies 13(1): 119–142.Google Scholar
Stolle, D, Hooghe, M Micheletti, M (2005) Politics in the supermarket: political consumerism as a form of political participation. International Political Science Review/Revue Internationale de Science Politique 26(3): 245–269.Google Scholar
Tarrow, S (2013) Contentious politics. in The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm051.Google Scholar
Teorell, J, Torcal, M Montero, JR (2007) Political participation: mapping the Terrain, in JW van Deth, JR Montero and A Westholm (eds). Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies: A Comparative Analysis. London: Routledge, pp. 334–357.Google Scholar
Van Der Meer, TWG (Tom) Van Ingen, EJ (Erik) (2009) Schools of democracy? Disentangling the relationship between civic participation and political action in 17 European countries. European Journal of Political Research 48(2): 281–308.Google Scholar
Van Der Meer, TWG, van Deth, JW Scheepers, PLH (2009) The politicized participant: ideology and political action in 20 democracies. Comparative Political Studies 42(11): 1426–1457.Google Scholar
Verba, S, Nie, HN Kim, J-O (1978) Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-Nation Comparison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Verba, S, Schlozman, KL, Brady, H Nie, NH (1993) Citizen activity: who participates? what do they say? The American Political Science Review 87(2): 303.Google Scholar
Webster, J (2016) Microworkers of the gig economy: separate and precarious. New Labor Forum 25(3): 56–64.Google Scholar
Wilkes, R (2004) First nation politics: deprivation, resources, and participation in collective action. Sociological Inquiry 74(4): 570–589.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Monticelli and Bassoli supplementary material

Appendix

Download Monticelli and Bassoli supplementary material(File)
File 346.2 KB