After work? Refusing the neoliberal work ethic in an era of chronic unemployment: Work Employment and Society Conference

Can the unemployed use their socio-economic status of jobless to refuse work, and more particularly, its growing precarity in western economies? To answer this question we report on an empirical study in Greece, which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Europe. Drawing on two online forums dedicated to the experiences of the unemployed, the paper aims to examine how and why insecure work in the mainstream economy can also reshape the experience of joblessness. We conceptually frame the findings by blending the insights of two literatures (i.e., on refusal of work and unemployment) in the hope of yielding insights about the politics of employment today. We conclude by examining the wider implications for the study of work life and unemployment in times of socio-economic crisis and job precarity