Abstract

The sociological analysis of the quality of working life uses a multidimensional approach and studies subjective ad objective aspects, paying attention to the relationship between workers’ needs/expectations and work organization. The essay, after highlighting some trajectories of change in the work and describing the analytical dimensions, proposes an integration of the model through the concept of aspiration, using Appadurai’s reflections. The aspiration and the capacity to aspire look to the future, and their use allows the introduction of some analytical variables in the model to explain the way in which workers evaluate working conditions. The capacity to aspire refers to culture, has a social and collective character, is embedded in daily practices, concerns the planning of the future and of orienting oneself in complexity. Studying aspirations makes it possible to identify the criteria that people use in the search for work and in the critical evaluation of working conditions.