Abstract: In recent years, sociological interest in the study of social class—particularly its subjective dimensions—has intensified. This article contributes to this growing body of literature by focusing on Poland as a case within the Central and Eastern European region. It emphasizes the role of historical context and family histories in shaping processes of class mobility and class reproduction, and examines these processes from a biographical perspective. Drawing on a comparative analysis of biographical pathways of upward mobility and reproduction, we introduce two analytical concepts naming the historical moments/processes potentially reshaping individuals’ class histories: openings, referring to moments that facilitate upward mobility, and ruptures, referring to interruptions in reproduction or obstacles to upward mobility. We also identify three pivotal historical moments that emerge in the collected narratives as shaping class histories and class identities in Poland: the Second World War, the 1989 political and educational transformation, and the integration into EU institutions from 2004 onwards. The analysis is based on 42 biographical interviews with academics. It demonstrates the value of qualitative, biographical methods for examining class identities, which often diverge from patterns captured by purely objective criteria. This approach further allows us to reveal the role of social history and multigenerational family history in making the individuals’ class histories and identities complex and ambiguous.

Abstract: In this chapter, we analyze the phenomenon of flexible employment in Poland in the years 2008–2018 and address the question of its prevalence and its relationship to the precarization of work. Drawing on representative quantitative data from the POLPAN panel study, we describe: (1) the prevalence of non-standard employment; (2) its distribution within the social structure; (3) its impact on subsequent career trajectories; and (4) self-declared employment insecurity. The analysis indicates a concentration of non-standard employment among younger workers and in occupations requiring lower levels of qualifications, pointing to an ongoing dualization of the labor market. At the same time, and somewhat unexpectedly, the subjective perception of the risk of job loss is relatively low among respondents, regardless of the form of employment. This finding runs counter to the prevailing understanding of non-standard employment as inherently less secure and to its frequent association with precarization. We interpret this discrepancy in terms of the normalization of precarious employment—that is, the perception of instability as something ordinary, and at times even desirable. It may also reflect a redefinition of “losing work”: no longer conceived primarily in terms of a relationship with a specific employer, but rather as a broader capacity to practice a given occupation.

Abstract: The article presents a research project investigating the biographical experiences of upward mobility and class reproduction. The project involved biographical-narrative interviews with academics, artists, and business managers who had experienced intergenerational upward mobility over the course of their lives or who were following in the career paths of at least one of their parents. The article focuses on methodological aspects. Drawing on the principles of reflexive sociology, particular attention is given to the role of the researchers’ positionality throughout the research process and the need to continuously contextualize it in the course of teamwork. Given the focus of the research on class and biography, it is important to consider class in a rigorous manner as a key category influencing the situation of the biographical interview, the interpretation of the collected material, the emotional labor of the researchers, and the dynamics of the research team.

Abstract: Although flexible employment is a prominent subject of sociological research, specific arrangements still require further investigation. This article addresses this gap by analyzing three nonstandard forms of employment among data analysts and care workers: ‘bogus’ self-employment, mandate contracts, and undeclared work. It addresses the main research question of whether such employment invariably worsens working conditions, or whether it can also constitute a desired form of employment. The study shows that the lack of formal regulation – which is a consequence of the lack of standard employment – does not automatically lead to precarization, and that workers’ motivations range from voluntariness to coercion, illustrating the heterogeneity of this broad category. Depending on the specific form of employment, labor market sector, age, and individual resources, such employment can function either as a strategic choice enabling certain benefits or as a source of precarization.

Abstract: Pension systems based on an insurance model were originally designed for male breadwinners who worked under permanent contracts without career breaks. Since their inception, women’s participation in the workforce has increased significantly, but on average, their employment career paths are still shorter and less linear compared to those that men enjoy. Demographic changes have prompted many countries to reform their pension systems to ensure long-term financial sustainability. And to varying degrees, such reforms also have looked to address the issue of short careers. In Poland, reforms introduced in 1999 brought about significant changes to the rules governing pension entitlement. That led to the emergence of a new category of retirees—those who had contributed to the pension system for a short period and consequently received very low pensions. This article provides an overview of an exploratory qualitative pilot study conducted in 2018 with nine women who were in receipt of benefits from the Polish universal pension system, which amounted to less than the so-called ‘lowest retirement pension’ being granted at that time. The analysis makes recourse to the concept of employment career and its connection to retirement to identify various life-course determinants that contributed to their situation. These factors include childhood and adolescent adversities that affected educational attainment; domestic and caregiving responsibilities coupled with cultural expectations and insufficient institutional support; the labor market situation, and the inability to document certain employment periods. The research material indicates that a significant portion of the work performed by the interviewees throughout their lives did not translate into a pension benefit, as it either involved unpaid domestic and caregiving duties; or work performed without formal contracts.

Abstract: In this article, we introduce a methodology to measure employment precarity in cross-country research based on individual career data from national panel surveys. First, we propose a measure of employment precarity, which is comparable across countries differing in their institutions, legal regulations and practices concerning the organization of labor relations. To address the comparability issues raised by using fixed-term employment indicators in the study of employment disadvantage, we conceptualize employment precarity in terms of sequences of labor market experiences, which carry a universal meaning as indicators of labor market attachment: non-employment, low income from work, and job separations. Drawing on recent developments in the field of sequence-based indices, we develop a Cross-National Precarity Index (CNPI) and test its performance using data on employment biographies from the German Socio-Economic Panel. We confirm good construct validity of the proposed measure by comparing its distribution across subpopulations as well as by assessing the statistical association between the index and typical correlates of precarious employment identified in the literature: employment status and life satisfaction. Second, we outline a methodological framework for the ex-post harmonization of career data gathered in various types of individual panel studies. Acknowledging the methodological differences between these studies, we propose adopting a common, calendar-based format for longitudinal data organization and constructing harmonization control variables to account for the recall and measurement bias resulting from the specific methodological solutions adopted in domestic surveys.