Publication: How precarious work affects individuals’ ontological security : a case of foundation university research assistants in Turkey
Abstract
Sanayi kapitalizminden küresel esnek kapitalizme geçişte üretim süreçlerinde, sermaye örgütlenmesinde ve emeğin yapısında ortaya çıkan birçok kırılmadan bahsediliriz. Esneklik, güvencesiz çalışma, gelecek belirsizliği, instabilite gibi kimi uzmanların kapitalizme her zaman içkin olduğunu varsaydığı örüntü ve eğilimler, son yıllarda çok daha belirgin bir forma bürünmüştür. Dolayısıyla neoliberal rasyonelitenin çalışanları iş yerlerinden en uzak köşelerde bile yakalar hale geldiği iddia edilebilir. Tam da bu noktadan hareketle, bu tezde güvencesiz çalışma deneyiminin bireyin ontolojik güvenliğini etkileyici alanlara nasıl ve hangi yollarla sızdığını soruşturuyorum. Bu bağlamda, karar alma mekanizmaları, sosyal ilişkilerdeki en temel ve inşa edici unsur olan güven duygusu, muhakeme süreçleri, psikolojik bütünlük gibi ontolojik güvenliğe işaret eden birçok bileşen zikredilebilir. Güvencesiz çalışmanın ortaya çıkardığı duygu, durum ve koşullar bahsedilen faktörlerle hangi düzeylerde etkileşebilir, ve etkileştiğinde ne tür sonuçlar ortaya çıkar bunu tahlil etmeyi amaçlıyorum. Bu kapsamda, akademik emeğin prekarizasyonuna yoğunlaşmak istediğimden ana örneklemimi vakıf üniversitesi araştırma görevlileri olarak belirledim. Toplamda 18 katılımcıyla yaptığım yarı yapılandırılmış mülakatlara ilişkin bulgularımı, araştırma sorularım doğrultusunda, ilgili literatürle ilişkilendirerek değerlendirdim. Nihayetinde, vakıf üniversitesi araştırma görevlilerinin tecrübe ettiği iş güvencesizliğinin, ontolojik güvenliğin esasındaki unsur olan süreklilik ve istikrar duygusu başta olmak üzere çeşitli kanı ve hisleri çarpıtabilen boyutlarının olabileceğini tespit ettim.
The transition from industrial capitalism to global flexible capitalism has resulted in significant changes in production processes, capital organization, and the structure of labor. Flexibility, job precarity, uncertainty, and instability, which are for some scholar inherent elements of capitalism, have become increasingly prominent in recent years. From this point on, this thesis examines the ways in which precarious work impacts an individual's ontological security and investigates the channels through which these effects occur. Here, factors such as decision-making mechanisms, the feeling of trust as the most basic and constructive element in social relationships, reasoning process and psychological integrity can be addressed to explain the concept of ontological security. In this context, I wanted to focus on the precarization of academic labor and determined my main sample as research assistants working at foundation universities. After analyzing the findings of semi-structured interviews with 18 participants in relation to relevant literature and my research questions, I have revealed the precariousness of employment experienced by research assistants in foundation universities may have various implications that could potentially affect their perspectives and emotions, particularly regarding their sense of continuity and stability, which is a crucial aspect of ontological security. Accordingly, it can be argued that the neoliberal rationality has been able to capture workers even in the most remote corners of life outside the workplace.
The transition from industrial capitalism to global flexible capitalism has resulted in significant changes in production processes, capital organization, and the structure of labor. Flexibility, job precarity, uncertainty, and instability, which are for some scholar inherent elements of capitalism, have become increasingly prominent in recent years. From this point on, this thesis examines the ways in which precarious work impacts an individual's ontological security and investigates the channels through which these effects occur. Here, factors such as decision-making mechanisms, the feeling of trust as the most basic and constructive element in social relationships, reasoning process and psychological integrity can be addressed to explain the concept of ontological security. In this context, I wanted to focus on the precarization of academic labor and determined my main sample as research assistants working at foundation universities. After analyzing the findings of semi-structured interviews with 18 participants in relation to relevant literature and my research questions, I have revealed the precariousness of employment experienced by research assistants in foundation universities may have various implications that could potentially affect their perspectives and emotions, particularly regarding their sense of continuity and stability, which is a crucial aspect of ontological security. Accordingly, it can be argued that the neoliberal rationality has been able to capture workers even in the most remote corners of life outside the workplace.