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The authors propose a classification of these new models by examining two main variables: (1) the tension between voice and entry as type of action implemented; and (2) the dichotomy between bottom-up and top-down origin in terms of trajectory of launch. Four distinctive models emerge from the intersection of these two interpretative axes: mobilization; organizing; cooperation; and networking. Beyond transversal commonalities shared by all the four clusters, referring to organizational structure, goals and strategies, the distinctive traits of each model are discussed in depth. The transversal reading also sheds light on the strengths and transferability of the ideal-typical models proposed, limitation and constraints as well as tensions, osmosis between the various quadrants and the potential evolutions and mutual interference between the clusters.

The chapter analyses the pandemic crisis as a ‘critical juncture’, an historic moment of relative structural indeterminacy, in which path-dependency reproduction mechanisms weaken and ties to the past loosen, while possible choices multiply. The role of ‘wilful actors’, in old and new forms of protection and representation of workers, becomes crucial in this new context. As can be seen throughout this book, in the current phase of transformation of the world of work, instability and contingency have become frequent situations in people’s working lives. Nevertheless, the potential, conditions and limits to social protection and collective action among contingent workers are only starting to be explored. This book aims to help fill this gap. The analysis presented can provide traditional unions with insight into the specific demands of emerging categories of workers and help these organizations find ways to improve and strengthen their action. Likewise, it offers tested experiences of alternative courses of action and organization to those workers who are on the margins of the ‘standard’ employment relationship and do not feel represented by the traditional actors of labour relations.

Davide Arcidiacono, Francesco Bonifacio and Ivana Pais present the third initiative of Part III in Chapter 9, ‘Consegne Etiche: the ethical platform for food delivery’. The experience of Consegne Etiche (Ethical Delivery), a cooperative of home-delivery services founded in Bologna, constitutes an alternative model to multinational platforms to provide a solution to the condition of riders and generate positive political pressure to transform the sector of urban logistics. The authors argue that unlike other experiences of solidarity building, the case of Bologna displays a remarkable synergy between the local administration and informal unions as the cooperative was promoted by the Municipality of Bologna with the collaboration of the Riders Union Bologna movement. This initiative embodies a more advanced step in the process of collaboration around the rights of delivery workers, moving from implementing reactive strategies of resistance towards the promotion of an ethical alternative adopting the cooperative model.

This book contains the outputs for two Southern European countries, Spain and Italy, of a European-wide investigation, the SWIRL – Slash Workers and Industrial ReLations project, founded by the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, which also covered Belgium, Bulgaria, France and Germany.1 This research has analysed, from a sociological perspective, the rising trend of contingent work, the needs and obstacles for collective representation that the wide range of workers who fit into this category of employment face and the innovative representation experiences that nevertheless have emerged.

Multiple job-holding represents not only a widespread working condition but also a particularly multifaceted phenomenon. Although it has drawn research attention from various disciplines over the last decades, a comprehensive understanding of its current articulation and its recent transformations is still lacking. Hence, in the light of the changing socio-economic scenario, the paper aims at identifying the structural characteristics of the contemporary forms of multiple job-holding in Italy. It does so through a mixed-methods approach: a quantitative analysis of Istat and Eurostat data, aimed at identifying the main profiles of the multiple job-holders, is complemented by a qualitative analysis conducted through 27 semi-structured interviews oriented to deepen the main determinants (push or pull factors) underlying the choice to carry out more than one job at the same time and the consequences in terms of individual enrichment or depletion. The empirical analysis points out the emergence of three clusters of contemporary multiple job-holders, each displaying peculiar traits. Overall, the paper offers a threefold contribution. First, it proposes a systematization of the broad debate on the variety of multiple job-holding, still fragmented and discontinuous. Second, it offers an analytical framework for investigating the complex phenomenon of multiple job-holding – lacking in the literature – based on the Italian experience but transferable also to other labour markets characterized by different regulatory and institutional configurations. Third, it updates the debate undertaken in Italy since the 1980s on the issue of multiple job-holding by investigating the specificities of contemporary forms of multiple employment in the light of the transformed socio-economic and regulatory scenario.

A literature review of the economic and social impact of the sharing economy

The essay reports the results of a study about consumer satisfaction of Car2go service in Milan

The chapter contributes to enhance the literature of coworking by identifying the specific and differential qualities of different coworking spaces. At the same time, the chapter aims enrich the discussion around coworking space management by shedding light on the tensions and challenges that trace the evolution of the ways of managing these new kinds of organisations.

Gli anni successivi allo scoppio della crisi finanziaria ed economica del 2008 sono stati caratterizzati dalla ricerca di forme di innovazione economica, preferibilmente radicate in logiche di innovazione sociale e abilitate dall’innovazione tecnologica. La mobilitazione di cittadini attivi, attivisti e intellettuali ha trovato un punto di convergenza nella cosiddetta “sharing economy”, un termine-cappello che ha portato a sintesi pratiche differenti e che ha trovato piena legittimazione nel dibattito pubblico grazie a una copertina dell’Economist del marzo 2013. La ricerca presentata in questo numero monografico si inserisce in questo filone interpretativo, con la specificità di guardare all’economia collaborativa come a un elemento cruciale di una più ampia trasformazione in atto: la convergenza tra processi tecnologici (lo sviluppo del web 2.0 e la disponibilità di piattaforme e app che disintermediano i rapporti tra produttori e consumatori), socio-culturali (l’emergere di nuove forme di relazione improntate alla collaborazione e alla condivisione) ed economici (nella forma di nuovi mercati e di opportunità professionali per individui e famiglie messi in difficoltà dalla crisi, ma anche di nuove forme di disuguaglianza) ha generato, più o meno inaspettatamente, le premesse per lo sviluppo della sharing economy come forma di integrazione tra economia e società, come industria e come fenomeno culturale.