Alberto Riesco-Sanz
I am a Profesor Contratado Doctor (Associate Professor) at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). I received from this same university my B.Sc in Social Anthropology and my Ph.D. in Sociology (on the subject of "ethnics economies" and labor market integration of the immigrant population in Spain). I worked as a Lecturer in Sociology at the Universidad de Salamanca (2006-2008), and as a researcher at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-CSIC (2005) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2006). I have been Visiting Researcher at the University of California-Davis (United States, 2003), Université Paris X - Nanterre (France, 2004) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium, 2012). My research focus on sociology of work and employment.
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Je suis Profesor Contratado Doctor (Associate Professor) à l'Universidad Complutense de Madrid. J'ai obtenu de cette université ma Licence (B.Sc) en Anthropologie Sociale et mon Doctorat (Ph.D.) en Sociologie (avec une thèse doctorale sur les "economies ethniques" et les modes d'incorporation au marché du travail de l'immigration en Espagne). Auparavant j'ai travaillé en tant que Profesor Ayudante (ATER) de Sociologie à l'Universidad de Salamanca et comme chercheur à l'Universidad Autónoma de Madrid et au Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-CSIC d´Espagne. J'ai été aussi chercheur invité à l'University of California-Davis (Etats-Unis, 2003), à l'Université de Paris X Nanterre (France, 2004) et à l'Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgique, 2012). Mes principaux domaines de recherche sont la sociologie du travail et de l'emploi.
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Soy Profesor Contratado Doctor en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, universidad en la que también realicé una licenciatura en Antropología Social y un doctorado en Sociología (con una tesis doctoral sobre las denominadas "economías étnicas" y la incorporación al mercado de trabajo de la población inmigrante en España). Previamente he trabajado como profesor Ayudante en la Universidad de Salamanca y como investigador en el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas y en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He sido igualmente investigador invitado en la University of California-Davis (EE.UU., 2003), en la Université de Paris X Nanterre (Francia, 2004) y en la Université Libre de Bruxelles (Bélgica, 2012). Mis principales ámbitos de investigación son la sociología del trabajo y del empleo.
Phone: 0034-91-394 25 57
Address: Sección Departamental de Sociología III
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
Campus de Somosaguas
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Madrid
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Je suis Profesor Contratado Doctor (Associate Professor) à l'Universidad Complutense de Madrid. J'ai obtenu de cette université ma Licence (B.Sc) en Anthropologie Sociale et mon Doctorat (Ph.D.) en Sociologie (avec une thèse doctorale sur les "economies ethniques" et les modes d'incorporation au marché du travail de l'immigration en Espagne). Auparavant j'ai travaillé en tant que Profesor Ayudante (ATER) de Sociologie à l'Universidad de Salamanca et comme chercheur à l'Universidad Autónoma de Madrid et au Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-CSIC d´Espagne. J'ai été aussi chercheur invité à l'University of California-Davis (Etats-Unis, 2003), à l'Université de Paris X Nanterre (France, 2004) et à l'Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgique, 2012). Mes principaux domaines de recherche sont la sociologie du travail et de l'emploi.
*************************************************
Soy Profesor Contratado Doctor en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, universidad en la que también realicé una licenciatura en Antropología Social y un doctorado en Sociología (con una tesis doctoral sobre las denominadas "economías étnicas" y la incorporación al mercado de trabajo de la población inmigrante en España). Previamente he trabajado como profesor Ayudante en la Universidad de Salamanca y como investigador en el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas y en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He sido igualmente investigador invitado en la University of California-Davis (EE.UU., 2003), en la Université de Paris X Nanterre (Francia, 2004) y en la Université Libre de Bruxelles (Bélgica, 2012). Mis principales ámbitos de investigación son la sociología del trabajo y del empleo.
Phone: 0034-91-394 25 57
Address: Sección Departamental de Sociología III
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
Campus de Somosaguas
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Madrid
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Publications by Alberto Riesco-Sanz
Este volumen, coordinado por el sociólogo Alberto Riesco-Sanz, y en el que participan una docena de in- vestigadores e investigadoras de España, Francia, Bélgica y Brasil, presenta una análisis exhaustivo y crítico de las recientes transformaciones registradas en el ámbito del trabajo, proporcionando con ello claves para comprender algunas derivas de las sociedades capitalistas contemporáneas.
La movilización de la fuerza de trabajo, su vinculación a una cierta secuencia de actividades en los procesos de creación de riqueza asume hoy combinaciones cada vez más complejas. La relación de empleo tradicional -conformada en Europa en torno al principio de subordinación jurídica del trabajador y de la participación regular de éste en el seno de una empresa de fronteras bien definidas- se enfrenta hoy a un proceso de transformación que tensiona las fronteras tradicionales del trabajo asalariado, así como sus mecanismos e instituciones fundamentales. Para reflexionar sobre las consecuencias de estas mutaciones se aborda un caso concreto : la industria cárnica española.
La industria cárnica se caracteriza en toda Europa por una gran presencia de la subcontratación. En España, la externalización de actividades se ha llevado a cabo mediante (falsas) cooperativas de trabajo que emplean (falsos) trabajadores autónomos. A partir de entrevistas efectuadas a los principales actores sociales del sector (organizaciones patronales, sindicales e inspección de trabajo), así como del análisis de otros materiales disponibles (estadísticas, sentencias judiciales, actas de la inspección de trabajo, etc.) se presentan los rasgos más importantes de la organización de esta industria en España, su evolución, movilizaciones y recientes disputas. El objetivo es mostrar cómo, en la actualidad, la movilización y subordinación de los productores se lleva a cabo, a menudo, al margen de los mecanismos e instituciones de la relación de empleo tradicional (estatuto de empleo asalariado, contrato de trabajo, forma-empresa, negociación colectiva, etc.), abriendo con ello no pocos desafíos en materia de protección de los derechos de los trabajadores.
Abstract
The mobilisation of the workforce, its connection to a certain sequence of activities in the wealth creation processes, today involves increasingly complex combinations. The traditional employment relationship, constructed in Europe around the principle of the legal subordination of the worker and their regular participation in a company within well-defined boundaries, today faces a transformation process that is putting pressure on the traditional boundaries of salaried work, as well as its fundamental mechanisms and institutions. To assess the consequences of these mutations, a specific case is examined: the Spanish meat industry.
The meat industry throughout Europe is characterised by the extensive use of subcontracting. In Spain, the outsourcing of activities has been carried out through (bogus) worker cooperatives that employ (bogus) self-employed workers. Based on interviews with the sector’s main social partners (employer organisations, trade unions and labour inspectorates), as well as an analysis of other available materials (statistics, court rulings, labour inspectorate records, etc.), the most important features of the organisation of this industry in Spain, its evolution, mobilisations and recent disputes are presented. The objective is to show how the mobilisation and subordination of producers is currently being carried out, often on the fringes of traditional employment relationship mechanisms and institutions (social status of wage employment, employment contract, company institution, collective bargaining, etc.), leading to many challenges in terms of protecting workers’ rights.
Palabras clave: Trabajo autónomo; Transformación del salariado; Unión Europea.
Abstract: Self-employment represents a lesser and yet nonetheless widespread form of employment in the European Union. It has often been described as a sign of economic back- wardness. However, self-employment has recently become an important topic in both public debate and employment policies. Starting out from an analysis of the extent of and recent changes in self-employment in Europe, this paper describes some of the features and tensions which characterise this form of employment: dissimilar trends in different EU countries, increasingly linked to activation policies; potential mechanism for flexibilization of the labour market, and a phenomenon in accordance with the uberization of the economy, etc. The description of these aspects in this paper is proposed as a connecting thread for identifying and discussing other major changes and developments that could have an impact on employment: proliferation of forms of hybrid employment status; extension of wage employment institutions and, at the same time, changes in the traditional wage relationship; other forms of mobilisation and use of productive capacities that are not linked to the traditional ‘company’ form, etc. Given the current blurring of some formerly restrictive theoretical tenets, it becomes possible to expand this study of self-employment in Europe into a deeper and more far-reaching reflection on the radical nature of the changes currently affecting employment.
Keywords: Self-employment; Wage based-society transformation; European Union.
***
An ambiguous independence: the new status of self-employed workers in France and Spain
We compare the legal status that Spain and France enacted at the boundary of firms and free trade area which stand for two different ways to rearrange self-employment rules in European states. The paper highlights the contribution of the two States and explains in detail their mea- sures. The new statuses of work the two States favoured turn out a paradoxical and equivocal independent-dependent status. Their actions meet events much more than they guide them, so the public regulation looks like a patch-up job much more than an exercise of a clear will.
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ABSTRACT
This article tries to provide a context for the Spanish ambitious regulatory framework of self-employment in force since 2007. Along with the analysis of its novelty and scope, the article questions the sense of a reform considered paradoxical for two key points. On the one hand, because it involves the regulation of self employment under a speci c employment status with very similar features to the wage labor status. On the other hand, because this reform takes place when self-employment –that has historically occupied a prominent place in Spain– tend to decline. Instead of dissociating self-employment from wage labor, this article invites us to explore the relationship between these two forms of employment, considering self- employment not as the denial of the wage-earning society, but as a witness of his power, and his profound transformation.
ABSTRACT
[en] Self-employment and the transformation of the wage earning society: the spanish and french reforms Abstract. The article compares the self-employment reform process put in place in Spain and France. Firstly, we analyze the contribution of the two States to this process, showing how new employment statuses favored by the reform turn out a paradoxical and equivocal independent-dependent status. From this comparative approach we conclude that the public action is not triggering but following a transformation process already in progress. This process aims at a deeper transformation of the wage earning society that could explain changes registered in the Spanish and French self-employment.
Le chapitre se partage en trois parties. Dans la première, nous présentons la décroissance du travail indépendant traditionnel espagnol et la part qu’y a prise la crise économique qui débute en 2007. Nous montrerons également que la stabilisation récente de ces formes de travail ne relève pas d’un simple ajustement conjoncturel en situation de fort chômage. La deuxième partie détaille le contenu de la réforme de 2007 et la mise en œuvre concrète du statut du travail autonome. On pourra ainsi comprendre la place qu’il occupe aujourd’hui en Espagne et sa convergence – voir son équivalence – avec le statut salarié. Sur cette base, la dernière partie argumente la nécessité de dépasser l’opposition formelle et traditionnelle entre les différents modes d’emploi de la force de travail : indépendant versus salarié.
Precariousness and uncertainty are the defining features of the modern work- ing relationships. They were partially limited and compensated for in some countries through a long and complex process of employment institutionalization. This proc- ess rested on the recognition of the existence of underlying subordination, dependency and inequality in the working relationships. In this way, it opened the doors not only to establish a principle of responsibility from the employer towards his/her employees, but also a system of social protection and even, a principle of freedom for the wage earner. The profound transformation of capitalism begins in the 1970s decade and places us in the phase of the surfacing of new forms of agency services for work related activity. These agency services do not go through the conventional firms (firms with- out wage earners, wage earners without firms) furthermore they dilute the principles upon which the regulation and protection of employment had been established. This article reflects on some of the features of the employment institutionalization proc- ess and its recent transformation, drawing special attention on some of the challenges and open promises."
Este volumen, coordinado por el sociólogo Alberto Riesco-Sanz, y en el que participan una docena de in- vestigadores e investigadoras de España, Francia, Bélgica y Brasil, presenta una análisis exhaustivo y crítico de las recientes transformaciones registradas en el ámbito del trabajo, proporcionando con ello claves para comprender algunas derivas de las sociedades capitalistas contemporáneas.
La movilización de la fuerza de trabajo, su vinculación a una cierta secuencia de actividades en los procesos de creación de riqueza asume hoy combinaciones cada vez más complejas. La relación de empleo tradicional -conformada en Europa en torno al principio de subordinación jurídica del trabajador y de la participación regular de éste en el seno de una empresa de fronteras bien definidas- se enfrenta hoy a un proceso de transformación que tensiona las fronteras tradicionales del trabajo asalariado, así como sus mecanismos e instituciones fundamentales. Para reflexionar sobre las consecuencias de estas mutaciones se aborda un caso concreto : la industria cárnica española.
La industria cárnica se caracteriza en toda Europa por una gran presencia de la subcontratación. En España, la externalización de actividades se ha llevado a cabo mediante (falsas) cooperativas de trabajo que emplean (falsos) trabajadores autónomos. A partir de entrevistas efectuadas a los principales actores sociales del sector (organizaciones patronales, sindicales e inspección de trabajo), así como del análisis de otros materiales disponibles (estadísticas, sentencias judiciales, actas de la inspección de trabajo, etc.) se presentan los rasgos más importantes de la organización de esta industria en España, su evolución, movilizaciones y recientes disputas. El objetivo es mostrar cómo, en la actualidad, la movilización y subordinación de los productores se lleva a cabo, a menudo, al margen de los mecanismos e instituciones de la relación de empleo tradicional (estatuto de empleo asalariado, contrato de trabajo, forma-empresa, negociación colectiva, etc.), abriendo con ello no pocos desafíos en materia de protección de los derechos de los trabajadores.
Abstract
The mobilisation of the workforce, its connection to a certain sequence of activities in the wealth creation processes, today involves increasingly complex combinations. The traditional employment relationship, constructed in Europe around the principle of the legal subordination of the worker and their regular participation in a company within well-defined boundaries, today faces a transformation process that is putting pressure on the traditional boundaries of salaried work, as well as its fundamental mechanisms and institutions. To assess the consequences of these mutations, a specific case is examined: the Spanish meat industry.
The meat industry throughout Europe is characterised by the extensive use of subcontracting. In Spain, the outsourcing of activities has been carried out through (bogus) worker cooperatives that employ (bogus) self-employed workers. Based on interviews with the sector’s main social partners (employer organisations, trade unions and labour inspectorates), as well as an analysis of other available materials (statistics, court rulings, labour inspectorate records, etc.), the most important features of the organisation of this industry in Spain, its evolution, mobilisations and recent disputes are presented. The objective is to show how the mobilisation and subordination of producers is currently being carried out, often on the fringes of traditional employment relationship mechanisms and institutions (social status of wage employment, employment contract, company institution, collective bargaining, etc.), leading to many challenges in terms of protecting workers’ rights.
Palabras clave: Trabajo autónomo; Transformación del salariado; Unión Europea.
Abstract: Self-employment represents a lesser and yet nonetheless widespread form of employment in the European Union. It has often been described as a sign of economic back- wardness. However, self-employment has recently become an important topic in both public debate and employment policies. Starting out from an analysis of the extent of and recent changes in self-employment in Europe, this paper describes some of the features and tensions which characterise this form of employment: dissimilar trends in different EU countries, increasingly linked to activation policies; potential mechanism for flexibilization of the labour market, and a phenomenon in accordance with the uberization of the economy, etc. The description of these aspects in this paper is proposed as a connecting thread for identifying and discussing other major changes and developments that could have an impact on employment: proliferation of forms of hybrid employment status; extension of wage employment institutions and, at the same time, changes in the traditional wage relationship; other forms of mobilisation and use of productive capacities that are not linked to the traditional ‘company’ form, etc. Given the current blurring of some formerly restrictive theoretical tenets, it becomes possible to expand this study of self-employment in Europe into a deeper and more far-reaching reflection on the radical nature of the changes currently affecting employment.
Keywords: Self-employment; Wage based-society transformation; European Union.
***
An ambiguous independence: the new status of self-employed workers in France and Spain
We compare the legal status that Spain and France enacted at the boundary of firms and free trade area which stand for two different ways to rearrange self-employment rules in European states. The paper highlights the contribution of the two States and explains in detail their mea- sures. The new statuses of work the two States favoured turn out a paradoxical and equivocal independent-dependent status. Their actions meet events much more than they guide them, so the public regulation looks like a patch-up job much more than an exercise of a clear will.
*************
ABSTRACT
This article tries to provide a context for the Spanish ambitious regulatory framework of self-employment in force since 2007. Along with the analysis of its novelty and scope, the article questions the sense of a reform considered paradoxical for two key points. On the one hand, because it involves the regulation of self employment under a speci c employment status with very similar features to the wage labor status. On the other hand, because this reform takes place when self-employment –that has historically occupied a prominent place in Spain– tend to decline. Instead of dissociating self-employment from wage labor, this article invites us to explore the relationship between these two forms of employment, considering self- employment not as the denial of the wage-earning society, but as a witness of his power, and his profound transformation.
ABSTRACT
[en] Self-employment and the transformation of the wage earning society: the spanish and french reforms Abstract. The article compares the self-employment reform process put in place in Spain and France. Firstly, we analyze the contribution of the two States to this process, showing how new employment statuses favored by the reform turn out a paradoxical and equivocal independent-dependent status. From this comparative approach we conclude that the public action is not triggering but following a transformation process already in progress. This process aims at a deeper transformation of the wage earning society that could explain changes registered in the Spanish and French self-employment.
Le chapitre se partage en trois parties. Dans la première, nous présentons la décroissance du travail indépendant traditionnel espagnol et la part qu’y a prise la crise économique qui débute en 2007. Nous montrerons également que la stabilisation récente de ces formes de travail ne relève pas d’un simple ajustement conjoncturel en situation de fort chômage. La deuxième partie détaille le contenu de la réforme de 2007 et la mise en œuvre concrète du statut du travail autonome. On pourra ainsi comprendre la place qu’il occupe aujourd’hui en Espagne et sa convergence – voir son équivalence – avec le statut salarié. Sur cette base, la dernière partie argumente la nécessité de dépasser l’opposition formelle et traditionnelle entre les différents modes d’emploi de la force de travail : indépendant versus salarié.
Precariousness and uncertainty are the defining features of the modern work- ing relationships. They were partially limited and compensated for in some countries through a long and complex process of employment institutionalization. This proc- ess rested on the recognition of the existence of underlying subordination, dependency and inequality in the working relationships. In this way, it opened the doors not only to establish a principle of responsibility from the employer towards his/her employees, but also a system of social protection and even, a principle of freedom for the wage earner. The profound transformation of capitalism begins in the 1970s decade and places us in the phase of the surfacing of new forms of agency services for work related activity. These agency services do not go through the conventional firms (firms with- out wage earners, wage earners without firms) furthermore they dilute the principles upon which the regulation and protection of employment had been established. This article reflects on some of the features of the employment institutionalization proc- ess and its recent transformation, drawing special attention on some of the challenges and open promises."
Thèse pour l’obtention du doctorat en sociologie soutenue à la Faculté de Sciences Politiques et Sociologie de l’Université Complutense (Espagne), sous la direction de M. Barañano (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), 2010, 550 p., annexes 55 p.
Mots clés: economies ethniques; Lavapiés; encastrement; salariat; travail indépendant; immigration; marché du travail
Tesis leída en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España), en julio de 2010. Bajo la dirección de: Margarita Barañano Cid