From lucem aspicio to the neoliberal shadow: cleaning services outsourcing at the University of Costa Rica

 

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Autori: Caamaño Morúa, Carmen, Dinartes Bogantes, Andrés
Natura: artículo original
Status:Versión publicada
Data di pubblicazione:2023
Descrizione:Introduction: Changing universities into for profit corporations has taken them to outsourcing as a way to reduce expending Objectives: This article tries to understand the way in which outsourcing, as a «third space»or «middle space» is built by workers hired by Servicio de Limpieza a su Medida S.A (SELIME), at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). It also describes how these persons experience precarious labor, which is established by contracts, norms and practices between private and public spheres. Method and technique: Our research is based on participant observation, analysis of five minutes of sessions from the Consejo Universitario, nine in depth interviews with cleaning workers, and an interview with the personnel from the Oficina de Servicios Contratados. The interviews focus on the categories working conditions and labor environment. Another interview with the working team from the Vicerrectoría de Administración that is analyzing outsourcing at UCR focused on outsourcing policies and bidding processes at the University. Results: We analyze the way in which a bicephalous and ambiguous structure of precarious forms creates hierarches and affect the bodies of people dedicated to cleaning work as they occupy the bottom step of a normed but arbitrary and hostile organization, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Continue reading in the article]
Stato:Portal de Revistas UCR
Istituzione:Universidad de Costa Rica
Repositorio:Portal de Revistas UCR
Lingua:Español
OAI Identifier:oai:portal.ucr.ac.cr:article/49029
Accesso online:https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/reflexiones/article/view/49029
Access Level:acceso abierto
Keyword:Outsourcing
Precarious labor
Public universities
Privatization
Subcontratación
Tercerización
Precariedad laboral
Universidades públicas
Privatización