Research on Unemployment is the Subject of an International Publication

A study which included the participation of CEM researchers makes international comparisons between Sao Paulo, Paris and Tokyo. 

An ISS research series publication from the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Tokyo, has just launched volume 19 which aims to present the results of comparative research on unemployment and the unemployed in which Brazilian researchers from CEM and partners in other national and foreign institutions participated. The aim of the volume, edited by Kazutoshi Kase and Kurumi Sugita was to present the main findings of an international comparison of the phenomenon of unemployment carried out through case-studies in SP, Paris and Tokyo.

The comparative project will address the forms and tendencies of unemployment which is observed in three realities. While there are substantial differences between them, they are representative of typical social contexts: Sao Paulo, with a history of unemployment and informality, given the reality of its heterogeneous labor market and the characteristics of the recent institutionalization of unemployment, in a legislation which is weakly inclusive and restrictive concerning the benefits conceded; Paris, with a solid public system of unemployment protection forged at the height of experience of a welfare State which slowly erodes its structure; and Tokyo, where in recent times,  it is possible to see a break in what is called, “the system of life-long work”  maintained during decades by the largest Japanese businesses. For this reason, and despite the local particularities, the three metropolises have lived important changes in their work norms in a context marked by growing flexibility, strong instability of work, great risk of unemployment and then, intensification of occupational transitions.

The results of the research conducted in Brazil appear to be validated when compared with those obtained from other countries.  Qualitative analyses on the forms assumed by the phenomenon in the other three national realities on the occupational trajectories of the unemployed in large metropolises and on their perceptions of and discourses on the lived experience of unemployment and in the search for work, make up one of the most important themes covered by the text.

Since 2002, when they began being published, the ISS Research Series has focused on the publication of research results, texts written by associates and scientific works in general. It has become a recognized publication and is supported by an institute of international renown, the Institute of Social Science (Shaken) of Tokyo University, founded in 1946 as a result of the first post-war university reform. Among its founding ideals is to construct a “democratic nation of love and peace” through research and comparative studies.