Peer-reviewed Publications by Larissa Petrucci
Sociological Perspectives, 2021
Under COVID-19, low-wage service sector workers found themselves as essential workers vulnerable ... more Under COVID-19, low-wage service sector workers found themselves as essential workers vulnerable to intensified precarity. Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of 52 low-wage service workers interviewed first in Summer 2019 and then in the last two weeks of April 2020, we argue that COVID-19 has created new and heightened dimensions of precarity for low-wage workers. They experience (1) moments of what we call precarious stability, in which an increase in hours and predictable schedules is accompanied by unpredictability in the tasks workers are assigned, (2) increased threats to bodily integrity, and (3) experiences of fear and anxiety as background conditions of work and intensified emotional labor. The impacts of COVID-19 on workers' lives warrant an expanded conceptualization of precarity that captures the dynamic and shifting nature of precarious stability and must incorporate workers' limited control over their bodily integrity and emotions as core components of precarious working conditions.
Gender, Work and Organization, 2020
Through a qualitative analysis of gender-inclusive meetup groups in the US technology sector, thi... more Through a qualitative analysis of gender-inclusive meetup groups in the US technology sector, this article offers a theory of postfeminist communities to identify how community organizing can take a postfeminist turn. Gender-inclusive meetups are public, often free groups or organizations where participants have access to training, mentorship and support. Groups import postfeminist values of choice, empowerment, individualism and entrepreneurship into their community organizing efforts to address workplace gender inequities. Groups employ three strategies to improve the status of women and non-binary people in the tech industry: (i) organizing a supportive community rooted in professionalism and entrepreneurialism; (ii) offering skills development in a safe environment; and (iii) training participants on how to take individual action against discrimination. While postfeminist communities are able to successfully cultivate supportive groups of participants who organize outside of the workplace, strategies focused on individual-level changes ultimately do little to disrupt organization-level gender inequities. K E Y W O R D S communities, community organizing, institutional sexism, postfeminism, technology industries
Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 2020
This article is a discourse analysis of a large Northwestern research university’s official commu... more This article is a discourse analysis of a large Northwestern research university’s official communications regarding sexual violence for a 15-month time frame. Through close reading of these communications, we found that concurrent with high levels of criticism in the spring of 2014 over the university’s handling of a high-profile rape case, the university advanced dissonant discourses of risk and responsibility in its communications regarding sexual violence. At both the institutional and individual levels, these dissonant discourses work to construct who is at risk of committing or experiencing sexual violence, and who is responsible for preventing and responding to it. In conclusion, we discuss possible implications for these dissonant discourses on the future of campus sexual violence prevention and university response.
Labor Studies Journal
A total of 16 percent of hourly workers and 36 percent of workers paid on some other basis experi... more A total of 16 percent of hourly workers and 36 percent of workers paid on some other basis experience unstable work schedules due to irregular, on-call, rotating, or split shifts, which negatively impact workers' ability to manage family responsibilities, finances, and health. Primarily drawing on data from in-depth interviews conducted in Oregon in 2016, this study expands research on how workers navigate through "bad jobs" by exploring the ways in which they respond in an attempt to manage the individual impacts of precarious work arrangements. We found that workers respond to unpredictable scheduling in four ways: they acquiesce, self-advocate, quit, or directly oppose employers. Our findings highlight the "impossible choices" workers face as they negotiate prevalent, unpredictable work conditions, juggle work-life obligations, and struggle to remain employed. We conclude with fair week, work policy recommendations.
Reports & Research Briefs by Larissa Petrucci
In 2017, Oregon passed the first statewide legislation to regulate unpredictable scheduling pract... more In 2017, Oregon passed the first statewide legislation to regulate unpredictable scheduling practices in retail, food service, and hospitality establishments that employ more than 500 workers worldwide. To examine the initial impact of the new scheduling law in Oregon, in the summer of 2019, our University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) and Sociology Department research team conducted in-depth interviews with 75 workers and 23 managers and schedulers in businesses across the state that are affected by the new requirements of the law.1 Below, we provide brief findings on how our respondents experience each component of the law.
Scholars Strategy Network, 2020
When the COVID-19 crisis hit Oregon, our Fair Scheduling Law Study research team reached back out... more When the COVID-19 crisis hit Oregon, our Fair Scheduling Law Study research team reached back out to our statewide sample of rural and urban, union and nonunion retail, food services, and hospitality workers and conducted over 50 interviews with workers in the last two weeks of April 2020 to ask: What does it mean to be an essential low-wage worker in this context?
Papers by Larissa Petrucci
Environmental Justice, 2020
Although environmental justice researchers have long been interested in the connections between d... more Although environmental justice researchers have long been interested in the connections between disaster recovery, gender, and home- and community-based care, the consequences of the post-disaster ...
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Peer-reviewed Publications by Larissa Petrucci
Reports & Research Briefs by Larissa Petrucci
Papers by Larissa Petrucci