Abstract

This paper investigates hybrid work in the German cultural and creative industries (CCI), focusing on the performing arts. The share of hybrid work triggered by low incomes is increasing, meaning hybrid work needs to be addressed through the notion of precarity. However, little is known about how people cope with hybrid work and what particular labor conditions provoke hybrid work. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field sociology, this article aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of hybrid work, with particular reference to the role of agency. In this article, hybrid work is understood as a differentiation of positions within the field of the performing arts in independent and publicly funded theaters. This conceptualization is empirically analyzed by investigating hybrid workers’ strategies within a typology of hybrid workers: (1) reputationwinner; (2) position-defender; and (3) position-seeker. This article demonstrates the relationship between the trajectory, position, and standpoint within the performing arts, showing how actors try to improve, defend, or establish a position in the field. It is argued that hybrid work reflects a particular state of insecurity which embodies blurring boundaries of self-employed and employed labor and thus comprises a fuzzy work status