Towards a casualization of corporate activities? A plea for practice inspired research on the casualization of labor

• Published in: Berliner journal für Soziologie Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 129 - 156
• Main Author: Buhrmann, Andrea D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: 01.04.2012
• Subjects: Corporate governance; Employment; Labour; Mediation; Methodology; Sociology of work; Values; Working conditions
• ISSN: 0863-1808
• DOI: 10.1007/s11609-012-0175-2

Using the example of the present casualization of labor the following article demonstrates the "surplus value" of a perspective on corporate activities that is enriched by insights gained from the field of the sociology of labor. Beginning with a reconstruction of the state of the art on casualization processes of dependent labor it is shown that there has indeed been an intense discussion about the erosion of the so-called standard employment relationship (Normalarbeitsverhaltnis) and the advancing casualization of dependent labor. The question regarding the casualization of the corporate activities, however, has hardly been recognized. The article will demonstrate that there actually is an ongoing casualization of corporate activities. Moreover, the vital factors for casualization processes in corporate activities will be elaborated. Subsequent to these points, the text raises the question of the implications of a "twofold" casualization of labor and its social mediations. In a final step, the article focuses on the systematic-methodological potential of founding research in a theory of practice. Adapted from the source document.