Beyond the unemployment condition: Creative resilience tactics among the long term unemployed

Abstract

Since the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), the landscape of work has changed across the world, with labour markets now characterized by an increase in long-term unemployment, underemployment and working poverty. And yet, newly formed groups of un(der)employed seem to be responding in creative ways to the vulnerability of employment. To observe this process, we have followed a group of 55 long-term unemployed in Spain for a period of three years, to explore their micro-practices and narratives. Working with 55 in-depth interviews, plus field notes, observations, media articles and policy documents, we explore the implications of the changing landscape of work through the personal experiences of the long-term unemployed and the social contexts they engage with to find alternatives in a world without secure employment. Our analysis illustrates the creative resilience tactics used by the unemployed in their everyday to overcome their condition and to develop alternative spaces in which to operate differently. The research illustrates how the meaning of ‘work’ is being re-shaped by the dynamics transforming employment and societal relations worldwide.