Paper short abstract:

This contribution emphasizes emergencies' role in generating and perpetuating precarious conditions in the Italian asylum reception system, showcasing workers' agency and resistance both inside and outside the workplace.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, 'crisis' and 'emergency' have been central in defining the contemporary experiences, particularly in socio-economic, political, and existential dimensions, with a focus on migration. The 'migration crisis' (2015) that significantly impacted Italy's asylum reception system shaped it with the 'paradigm of emergency'. The influx of arrivals led to a demand for personnel, forming a workforce primarily composed of highly educated young women with strong personal motivation. However, they grapple with uncertain labor contexts influenced by emergency rhetoric, disrupting both humanitarian and bureaucratic frameworks.

Within this system, labor conflicts and social friction emerge due to the precarious nature of those employed. This unfolds on both a socio-economic dimension, shaped by external forces, and an intimate, existential dimension arising from ruptures within one's 'teleology of life.' The resulting disorder, encompassing material and emotional aspects, outlines a complex existential condition, manifested in an ontological dimension through specific forms of self-representation. It stems from the feeling of being unable to 'navigate' the process, 'reach' the 'hoped-for near future,' or 'align' the present with personal aspirations, dismissing any 'promise of stability.'

Drawing from extensive ethnographic experience as a social operator and a researcher within the asylum reception system, this contribution emphasizes emergencies' role in generating and perpetuating precariousness in both labor and the intimate existential sphere, manifesting inside and outside the workplace. Ethnographically illustrating how workers in this social arena develop strategies to navigate and resist existential oppression demonstrates significant agency and the ability to critique and rethink the operative system.