Generations at work and social cohesion

Work has always been and remains a powerful integrator in society. It gives place, duties and rights, and distributes individuals on a scale of social prestige. Work is still a key element in the inclusion/exclusion process within societies. However, over a long period the sense of work has changed for individuals. It has become more diversified and is now a matter for high expectations, at different levels – instrumental, social, symbolic – that do not replace each other. In post-industrial societies, work and identities remain strongly intertwined despite a progressive distance vis-à-vis work. Work remains a social integrator but it no longer has a hegemonic value. It supports the building of identities but through a more polycentric conception of existence in which other values (such as the family) play a similar role. Moreover, the gender models of relationship to work appear less opposite in the new generation of workers. There is a generational component in all these changes, both in the subjective meaning of work and in its objective conditions (status, trajectories, security), unfairly distributed among age groups, and men and women. Moreover, there is also a significant generational differential as regards educational levels, although these generational differentiations do not unavoidably lead to divisions in social cohesion. Work is a concrete and symbolic place where different conceptions of work, existence and social ties meet but do not collide. However, in the future, we can suspect that a continuing discrepancy between work and life expectations and the nature of places available in society could become more threatening for social cohesion. The communication is based on a European study conducted under the 6th Framework Programme of the EU and coordinated by P. Vendramin.

Reference

Vendramin Patricia (editor), Generations at work and social cohesion, Peter Lang, 2011.