ABSTRACT This paper examines how voluntary labour is being reconfigured in precarious labour markets. I argue that like an internship, volunteering is increasingly construed as a form of ‘hope labour’, premised on the logic of investment. Hope labour promises that exposure and experience will possibly lead to employment in the future. In workshops for job seekers, experts reproduce a neoliberal logic through which the self is imagined as a portfolio or a bundle of skills that indexes one’s employability. These workshops present simple correlations between investments in one’s portfolio and enhanced employability, which tend to unravel in practice. The un- and under-employed, particularly immigrants, face difficulties accessing volunteer opportunities that develop appropriate skills and networks. They also struggle to present volunteer work as valuable ‘work experience’ in resumes and LinkedIn profiles. These difficulties reveal the ways in which hope labour is structured by and reproduces social inequalities. Although volunteer positions do not necessarily lead to paid work, unpaid work is simultaneously about filling one’s resume and chasing opportunity – prominent forms of neoliberal risk management in contingent and competitive labour markets. This labour creates potential affective and economic value, not only for individuals, but also for non-profit organisations and the state.

中文翻译：

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志愿工作作为希望劳动：无偿工作经验对失业者和就业不足者的潜在价值

摘要 本文探讨了在不稳定的劳动力市场中志愿劳动是如何被重新配置的。我认为，就像实习一样，志愿服务越来越多地被解释为一种以投资逻辑为前提的“希望劳动”。希望劳工承诺，接触和经历将来可能会导致就业。在为求职者举办的研讨会上，专家们再现了一种新自由主义逻辑，通过这种逻辑，自我被想象为一个投资组合或一组技能，可以衡量一个人的就业能力。这些研讨会展示了一个人的投资组合投资与增强的就业能力之间的简单相关性，这在实践中往往会瓦解。失业者和未充分就业者，尤其是移民，在获得发展适当技能和网络的志愿者机会方面面临困难。他们还努力在简历和 LinkedIn 个人资料中将志愿工作作为宝贵的“工作经验”呈现出来。这些困难揭示了希望劳动由社会不平等构成和再生产的方式。尽管志愿者职位不一定会带来有偿工作，但无偿工作同时也是为了充实自己的简历和追逐机会——这是临时和竞争性劳动力市场中新自由主义风险管理的重要形式。这种劳动不仅为个人，而且为非营利组织和国家创造了潜在的情感和经济价值。无偿工作同时是为了充实自己的履历和追逐机会——这是临时和竞争性劳动力市场中新自由主义风险管理的重要形式。这种劳动不仅为个人，而且为非营利组织和国家创造了潜在的情感和经济价值。无偿工作同时是为了充实自己的履历和追逐机会——这是临时和竞争性劳动力市场中新自由主义风险管理的重要形式。这种劳动不仅为个人，而且为非营利组织和国家创造了潜在的情感和经济价值。