Made to Work: Mobilising Contemporary Worklives

Excerpt

It is beyond doubt that technological change, shifts in the occupational structure, the rise of post-Fordist flexible specialisation and of new forms of professional and entrepreneurial working have contributed significantly to the rise of ‘mobile’ or ‘nomadic’ working. The sight of people on the laptops on trains and in airports, the rise of ‘serviced office’ provision, home working, and so on, all testify to this. The Covid epidemic, ironically, has brought these issues into sharp relief. Work, where and how it is done, who legislates and controls it and the huge importance of spatiality and temporality have been brought to our attention in a big way. Much of what has happened has made us, as members of the sub-category of academic workers and as workers tout court, confront a number of otherwise taken-for-granted issues around where and how we do our work. The book is based on a five year collaborative project and relies on a primarily qualitative approach, utilising interview data to elaborate on, and contribute to, much of the theoretical debate about the role of mobility in contemporary working life. …