INSECURITY AND THE QUALITY OF WORK OF FIXED-TERM WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE RESEARCH
The paper addresses insecurity of working careers, combining it to the quality of work of temporary workers, in terms of tasks, skills and possibility to influence work organization. A comparative research has been carried out, highlighting differences among welfare and employment regimes. Data are focused on the five waves of the European Working Conditions Survey.

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF PRECARIOUSNESS.
THE CASE OF SOLO SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN ITALY
The article argues that in order to understand precarious work it is crucial to contextualise structural changes in subjective conditions, which is to embed subjectivities in work structures. We analyse the case of «solo self-employment», an interesting case for examining how precarious work is socially constructed, because it challenges the formal dichotomy between self-employment and dependent employment. The focus of the contribution is on
how solo self-employed workers in Italy experience precariousness «in work» by understanding how such experience is shaped within the processes of precarization and «self-entrepreneurization».

SELF-EMPLOYED PROFESSIONALS IN ITALY. WORKING CONDITIONS, EXPECTATIONS, REPRESENTATION
The article presents the main results collected during the realisation of the research Vita da professionisti, focused on professional workers’ needs and expectations, no matter which sector or contractual form, mainly autonomous workers with Vat registration. Here the main findings of professional work are presented: working conditions, economic and remunerative aspects, changing and improvement objectives these workers demand to trade unions.

PROFESSIONAL FIGURES IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC IN ITALY.
BETWEEN INSTABILITY AND NEW ENTREPRENEURSHIP COURSES
The complexity that emerges from the exploration of professional figures and the situations of precariousness that characterize artistic and musical performance sectors is the key to understanding the areas within which musicians move, fluctuating between creative freedom, an essential condition for artists, and the work difficulties that often limit it. Employment instability, the consequence of discordant cultural policies and the absence of specific training courses, is perceived by the artists interviewed in different ways, on the border between opportunities and limits.

OUTSOURCING AND PRECARIOUS WORK. A STUDY IN INDUSTRIAL CLEANING
The article analyses the dynamics of precarious work in a sector, such as industrial cleaning, grew with the outsourcing of activities by private enterprises and public administrations. Moreover, it is a labour intensive sector, where low-skill occupations prevail. Based on a qualitative case study, the analysis focuses on the mechanisms producing precarious work. It emerges the crucial role of the «third parties», private and, even more, public clients/outsourcees.

THE PROCESS OF GRATUITISATION OF WORK: THE CASE OF ITALIAN VOUCHER PAYMENT SYSTEM
The aim of this paper is defining the Italian voucher system for casual work as an element of the broader process of gratuitisation of work. To do this, in the first part of this contribution I will describe the subjective and objective dimensions of the process; then, into the merits of the voucher system, I will focus on some of these dimensions as emerged from a qualitative research on casual work in Bologna.

THE SO CALLED «SHARING ECONOMY» AND THE RELATED TRENDS
IN CONTEMPORARY CAPITALISM AND IN THE WORLD OF WORK
The paper tries first to give a broad picture on the rise and development trends of the so called «sharing economy» phenomenon and this both from a geographical and sectorial point of view. This growh is then linked to some tendencies, mainly negative ones, that can be at present recognized in the world of work and, in more general terms, in the development of contemporary capitalism. The last part of the article tries to list some proposals that could be useful in regulating a phenomenon which consequences could otherwise be devastating in
many areas, from workers and consumers protection, to tax collection and to competition levels that could be registered in the businesses involved.

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AND ACTIVE LABOUR MARKET POLICIES AFTER THE JOBS ACT
The article deals with the new look of Italian public employment services, as reformed by the legislative decree n. 150 of 2015, which implemented the so called Jobs Act. The main features of the Italian reform are compared with the most important aspects of European and international experiences, which proved particularly successful in the management of the labour market. The concluding remarks hold that the national normative frame is by now in line with the best practices emerging from the comparative context, but much has to be done at the operative level.

MUTUALISM AND TRADE UNIONISM: TWO CONVERGING ROADS
Mutualism is coming back. Difficulties arisen in the health sector have gradually led to the establishment of uxiliary insurance funds that, initially developed at corporate level (occu- pational welfare), are now being introduced in national collective agreements.
These funds have been established by amending the Act on (Workers’) Mutual Societies of 1886. Is it not the time to revitalize a mutualist practice, as a means of solidarity among workers, instead of just making demands? Are not these times of low growth the most appro- priate to develop a mutualistic approach?

UNIONS, AT THE ORIGINS OF THE CONFEDERAL UNIONISM
In this paper – the result of an intervention in a training course – the author puts at the centre of his reflection the crucial passage that deals with the union today when for the first time in its centenary history are put into discussion the function and structure. In particular, the analysis focuses on the reconstruction of the confederal unions origins tracing the main stages from the beginning, through the liberal age until the first world war, and at the same time rebuilding the complex relationship between union-institutions and union-party.