Self-employment as patchwork existence. New patterns of self-employment in culture-related professions
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Selbständigkeit als Patchwork-Existenz:Neue Muster von Selbständigkeit in den Kulturberufen
The aim of the paper is to analyse the specific situation of cultural professions as an example of the change in self–employment. In particular it asks whether a flexibilisation of solo self–employment has taken place in cultural professions. The hypothesis is that self–employment in cultural professions is increasingly reflecting patchwork lives due to an instable work status. However, it seems as if such patchwork lives are also the result of commuting between different fields of occupations. Based on the results of a qualitative analysis, three aspects of such a hybridisation of work are highlighted: (1) It appears that specific strategies of employment exist, which are aimed at different submarkets in the cultural sector. (2) Forms of employment are characterised by dynamic changes of status. (3) It is a version of the typical „engaged leg – free leg"–strategy of artists, which has diffused in commercially–driven cultural professions.
The aim of the paper is to analyse the specific situation of cultural professions as an example of the change in self–employment. In particular it asks whether a flexibilisation of solo self–employment has taken place in cultural professions. The hypothesis is that self–employment in cultural professions is increasingly reflecting patchwork lives due to an instable work status. However, it seems as if such patchwork lives are also the result of commuting between different fields of occupations. Based on the results of a qualitative analysis, three aspects of such a hybridisation of work are highlighted: (1) It appears that specific strategies of employment exist, which are aimed at different submarkets in the cultural sector. (2) Forms of employment are characterised by dynamic changes of status. (3) It is a version of the typical „engaged leg – free leg"–strategy of artists, which has diffused in commercially–driven cultural professions.