Segmentation of cognitive labor and individualization of wages

The paper deals with the transformation of labour and wages differentiation, providing some empirical examples in the diffusion of cognitive labour, especially in the publishing industry. The first part gives a definition of cognitive labour by focussing on the role played by relation activities and learning processes. It is the type of labour which is able, better than others, to exploit the new types of dynamic economies of scale which affect the accumulation of cognitive capitalism. Network and learning activities, by definition, lead to an increase of labour and wage individualisation and fragmentation, which in many cases imply a precarious condition in terms of income and social security. In the second part of the paper, the labour organisation is analysed in the publishing industry. In the publishing industry, cognitive labour is increasing as a consequence of the introduction of ICT. Empirical data show that this dynamic leads to an increase of wages differentiation and precariousness, more and more based on the new cognitive division of labour.