Summary: | Artists are vulnerable workers not only on account of professional contingencies (underemployment, intermittent and multiple jobs, freelance work, precarious contracts, low salaries in certain categories), but also on account of their dependent identities, which are exposed to specific forms of symbolic power, inequality and gatekeeping processes if they wish to achieve recognition. This paper focuses on the two perspectives, making use of certain European and Portuguese references in order to portray ambivalent and diversified features in the artistic condition. The research in Portugal combined statistical analysis with qualitative approaches to professional experiences and locations in various areas (in particular the visual arts, composers and musicians in the main orchestras), with particular attention to gender issues.
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