Precarity is one of the most frequently discussed issues in contemporary social sciences, but it is less often analysed through the lens of the production process. How is precarity inscribed in the class struggle? This thesis attempts to answer this question from two perspectives. First, the impact of precarious workers on the labour process, particularly on the control of the labour force and the intensification of work. The analysis focuses on agency workers who work side by side with standard employees, making the distinction between core and peripheral workers especially visible. Second, the impact of temporary agency workers on the capacity for working-class self-organisation, which we conceptualise through the question of class formation.
Capital introduces competitive relations, characteristic of the sphere of circulation, into the sphere of production, thereby fragmenting the collective worker. The competition between "core" and "peripheral" workers in the production process generates effects on the labour process that are not limited to precarious workers but instead worsen the position of all workers. The analysis shows that agency workers are not merely a "flexible" asset to the company, but ideal workers who internalise management’s will. Our research, based on interviews in a manufacturing company, sheds light on how precarisation deepens the subordination of workers while simultaneously blocking their formation into a class organisation. It affects both cultural practices in the factory and workers' autonomous attempts at struggles, showing how hard solidarity transcends the boundaries of precarity – especially when the company's trade union contributes to reinforcing those boundaries.
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