La recherche d’emploi et ses significations. Une comparaison Paris, São Paulo, Tokyo

Abstract

As a central dimension of the state of unemployment, job-seeking is usually analyzed through behavior and strategies developed by the unemployed in order to find work. However, the distension of ties between unemployment and employment transforms this search into a challenge with an uncertain outcome. Experiences of job-seeking can therefore be seen from a different perspective: not in terms of their direct effectiveness in relation to leaving unemployment, but rather in terms of how they contribute to processes of definition of the lived situation in relation to employment. By basing this work on a corpus of biographical interviews collected from people confronted with unemployment in Paris, São Paulo, and Tokyo, we attempt to understand how they conceptualize the job search, how they discuss their experience, and how they discuss their practices.

Keywords

• Brazil
• France
• Japan
• 21st century
• job-seeking
• unemployment