Challenges of Mobilising and Using Scientific Work in Spain.

This communication is based on the results of the R&D research project ‘Frontiers of salaried work and new forms of employment’ (CSO2017-82292-R), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (2018-21). Based on the Spanish case, it analyses the fundamental role played by the State in the promotion of scientific activity (public and private), in the creation of scientific infrastructures, as well as in the training and mobilisation of workers in the field of science. Using statistics and other sources of information (national R&D plans, institutional reports, etc.), the communication analyses the transformation of the Spanish R&D system (and its impact on the working systems employed) from the final decades of the 20th century to the present day. The full incorporation of the Spanish economy into international capitalist circuits and its traditional technological dependence has placed science and innovation at the centre of the country's economic development strategies. However, the attempt to create a solid and internationally ‘competitive’ R&D system in Spain has been carried out with levels of investment well below the OECD average (especially in the private sector), which has been reflected in the systems for mobilising scientific work in Spain: strong role of the State as employer, progressive dualisation of professional careers (with a growing weight of salaried work, as opposed to the traditional figure of civil servants), development of significant pockets of precariousness within R&D, difficulty in retaining trained researchers, etc. The Spanish R&D system, a central element for the future competitiveness of the Spanish economy, adopts work organisation formulas that are highly strained, which makes its future and sustainability uncertain. This communication aims to highlight these challenges and their impact on R&D workers. A reflection that, beyond the possible singularity of the R&D sector, connects with other important transformations in contemporary capitalist economies.