Working the distance: Inventing a home to work in

Abstract

This article is based on a comparison of professionals who work away from the office: freelance graphic designers, freelance journalists and tele-secretaries. Each professional defines his or her own way of working. In this context time, space, activities and social roles become blurred. These professionals thus have to succeed in creating a workspace at home. The article shows that this ability to define a personal workspace depends not only on professional resources but also on social and biographical resources. Different configurations are revealed and then analysed at the crossroads between objective conditions of existence and the way people themselves manage to give meaning to their position.