Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes the new imaginaries derived from precarious working conditions in post-pandemic Spain. After assessing some of the emotional and relational impacts of precariousness, the expectations, values and expectations regarding solidarity and cohesion in an increasingly individualistic and fragmented society are analyzed.

Paper long abstract:

Often, the Spanish Mediterranean culture has been perceived as one characterized by the preeminence of family and community ties, group solidarity, and an active and dynamic social life that offers multiple types of support (material, emotional, and informational). However, this perception is far from the current reality.

The Spanish labor market presents 40% of precarious jobs, labor competition has increased greatly, manual jobs are becoming highly colonized by tracking and control technologies (algorithms, platforms, GPS, etc.) and the consumption of anxiolytics has skyrocketed among the most precarious population. As other authors have pointed out (Sennet, 2006; Allison, 2013; Butler, 2004), this precariousness transcends the workplace and penetrates into people's daily lives, giving rise to a kind of "precarious society" where social and affective ties become ephemeral and fragmented. After the pandemic, and in these conditions, the need for spaces for sociability, social cohesion and solidarity manifests itself as a social imperative to alleviate the increase in loneliness, depression, personal dissatisfaction and the lack of vital goals.

We present some preliminary results (derived from 40 in-depth interviews) of an ongoing investigation into precariousness and its relational and emotional impact in post-pandemic Spanish society. However, beyond influencing personal tragedy and material precariousness, we want to insist on the emergence of new forms of behavior, values, arrangements and social expectations. What is the narrative of the people who suffer from it? Where and how do they get the strength to carry on? What new alternatives for sociability and solidarity can we imagine in this highly fragmented and precarious reality?