La erosión de las certezas previas: significados, percepciones e impactos del desempleo en la experiencia argentina

Abstract

In Argentina, the disruptive effects of unemployment acquire particularly serious dimensions because of the context of disintegration of what was previously a relatively well established social and employment structure.
This article examines the experience, meanings and perceptions of work and unemployment, with particular emphasis on their dynamic and heterogeneous nature. The article offers a critical review of the literature on unemployment and an analysis of the major transformations of the employment market from the 1980s on, before proceeding to demonstrate, through in–depth interviews, the concrete repercussions of these processes on “ordinary people”. It thus aims to provide an appreciation of unemployment from a broad perspective, and contribute to a reformulation of welfare politics with a comprehensive, overall vision.