This project focuses on occupational identity and how it is affected by the rise of non-standard employment and project-based labor or the transformation of work to a ‘gig economy.’ Occupational identity is a classic object of study by sociologists because it is central to how people see themselves and identify others. However, the usual theoretical frameworks are now challenged. In particular, the project aims at studying the determinants of polyoccupationalism, or the propensity of people to declare working in multiple occupations at the same time. Such phenomenon is challenging the classical accounts on occupations, which are usually conceptualized as disjunct and separate. Léonie Hénaut and Jennifer Lena intend to study the relationships between experts and expertise.
The Alliance Joint Projects grant will support the collaboration of the two researchers for the next two years. They will work on papers using a dataset on arts and arts-related industries called SNAAP (Strategic National Arts Alumni Project). The project will proceed with two workshops for graduate students and scholars held in New York and Paris when the principal investigators will be visiting their respective universities.
