Beyond Fragmentation: the Case of the Italian Entertainment Industry during the Pandemic

Abstract

This article proposes empirical insights into labour mobilisation in the entertainment industry during the pandemic, aiming to examine the intersection between government policies and workers’ demands. It also introduces methodological reflections on the “operaist” tool of “inchiesta a caldo”, through a continuous process of dialogue oriented toward the design, implementation, and analysis of the findings. The objective goes beyond mere knowledge production, seeking instead to build a shared political framework for identifying key issues and formulating the demands needed to improve working conditions in the sector. The findings show that overcoming various forms of fragmentation (contractual, hierarchical, and occupational) occurred around the shared claim for universal and continuous welfare measures, capable of ensuring income during inactivity periods and reducing contractual inequalities. This process has taken on a broader political meaning within the current neoliberal context, where solidarity among precarious workers represents an act of rupture against competitive individualism and the ideology of the “own entrepreneur”.