The Precariat and the Plebeian Principle: Independent and Precarious Workers: Paradoxes and Emancipation Issues

traduction du chapitre 2 de Révolutions précaires – Essai sur l’avenir de l’émancipationInternational audienceThe following text is the translation of my book Révolutions précaires – Essai sur l'avenir de l'émanciaption, chapter 2 (1). It seeks is to define the expectations surrounding independent work today, in light of the quest for emancipation which was at stake in the reflections of Louis Gabriel Gauny, a 19th century artisan whose writings were exhumed by Jacques Rancière. By linking the practices of contemporary culture workers with those of laborers seeking emancipation, it underscores the ambivalence which pervades independent work, or piecework, in both experiences alike. Indeed, as pointed out by Gauny himself, by steering away from alienating relationships, workers expose themselves to basic self-exploitation, bringing mixed feelings to the core of independent work. In the rest of the text, I intend to assess the reconfiguration of work settings and collective professional interactions which is brought about by this autonomy. The subjectivity of professional relationships, the intimacy of production processes, the intensity of emotions going into performing a task, the forging of social links through reputation, and the relative frugality of lifestyles which emerge as a result are considered in full view of that ambivalence( 2 ).(1) La Découverte, Paris, 2014. In the footsteps of my earlier books, L'Exil du précaire (Klincksieck, 1986) and La précarité (Que Sais-je, PUF, 2005), this book looks into the new forms of precarious work and socio-professional uncertainty which are the daily lot of culture workers today: freelance journalists, videographers, photographers, scriptwriters , visual artists , etc. 2 Chapters 3 and 4 of Révolutions précaires, show how emerging worker profiles have less to do with surrender than with genuine reflection on conditions for independent and precarious worker mobilization, representation and organization, and in particular with overcoming the resentment directed against independent workers in order to forge an anti-capitalist alliance between working classes and middle classes