“It should be fun. Not boring.” Navigating precarious labour, care, and belonging in a creative volunteer organization: An autoethnographic study of IDA Radio.

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Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis

Authors

Date

2025-05-26

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Nordic Master in Visual Studies and Art Education

Language

en

Pages

67

Series

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates how precarious labour unfolds in the context of a creative volunteer organization. I explore the field of an insider observer as an intern at IDA Radio, an art-based radio station in Helsinki. The thesis examines how care, recognition, and belonging are negotiated in an environment without formal structure or roles but shaped by informal relations and hidden emotional expectations. Drawing on an autoethnographic approach using diary writing during and after the internship, supported by a semi-structured interview, thematic analysis, and internal communication data at IDA Radio. I reflect on my experiences navigating IDA’s flat structure and family-like culture. The analysis draws on theoretical perspectives from Maurice Hamington (2004) on relational care, Arlie Hochschild (1979) on emotional labour, Axel Honneth (1995) on recognition, Judith Butler (1993) on performativity, and position IDA Radio, within Angela McRobbie’s (2016) concept of soft capitalism and her critique of bureaucracy in the creative sector. The study shows that relational care became an informal currency and a condition for participation, shaping my ability to access work, community, and recognition. Inclusion is shaped by social presence and emotional investment, while recognition must be performed through active participation in digital and physical spaces. In this setting, precarity is a matter of how one becomes recognized, how care is practiced, and how family-like communities are emotionally navigated. The findings suggest that becoming part of the ‘IDA family’ is less about performing inclusion and more about allowing relationships to develop over time, a process complicated by short-term roles like internships. This thesis contributes to discussions on the affective dimensions of precarity and raises critical questions about how care might be shared more sustainably in informal creative organizations, without becoming an individual burden.

Description

Supervisor

Huopalainen, Astrid

Thesis advisor

Hvid Dille, Maria

Keywords

precarious labour, care, recognition, creative, volunteer, organization

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Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202506184957

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[master] Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu / ARTS