Anna Gonon
Dr. rer. soc.
Biographie
My research focuses on social policy, poverty, low-wage work, and care work. I use qualitative methods (grounded theory, ethnography) and interdisciplinary theoretical approaches, including the Economics and Sociology of Conventions and the Capability Approach. In my current research, I am interested in paid care work (childcare, personal assistance) and the relationship between “good” care and “good” working conditions.
Education
2022 Ph.D. in Sociology, University of St. Gallen
2014 MA in Sociology, University of Konstanz
2010 BA in Sociology and Philosophy, University of Zurich
Employment
Since 2026: Doctoral assistant at the Department of Sociology, Social Policy, Social Work, University of Fribourg
2014-2026: Researcher at the School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
2013-2014: Student assistant at the Social Science Archive, University of Konstanz
Recherche et publications
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Publications
19 publications
Unequal Priorities: How Intra-household Resource Allocation and Means-tested Benefits Affect Capabilities in poor Families
Anna Gonon, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society (2026) | ArticleStuck in Poverty? Stability and Change of Capabilities and Functionings
Anna Gonon, Eva Nadai, Marcus Böhme, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities (2026) | Article -
Projets de recherche
10008430 - Doing choice and control. Direct payments and the capabilities of care users and paid domestic workers
Statut: En coursDébut 01.11.2026 Fin 30.04.2030 Financement FNS Voir la fiche du projet People with disability-related care needs increasingly wish to live in their private homes and to exercise choice and control over their services. Direct payments that enable beneficiaries to employ their carers directly are an important social policy approach to achieve these goals. Yet, enabling choice and control also depends on the availability of reliable care workers. The employment conditions of the predominantly female domestic care workforce are characterized by low pay, fragmented working hours and lacking development prospects. Although it is often argued that the quality of care and the quality of care jobs are interrelated, there is a lack of knowledge about how direct payment policies affect the situation of workers and how this in turn affects the experiences of users. The proposed research aims to explore this interrelation. Adopting a subjective approach to quality, it draws on the Capability Approach to capture the experiences of choice and control of care users and the job quality experienced by workers in an integrated framework. The project assumes that capabilities are shaped through practices and interactions between care users and workers. Mobilizing the methodology of institutional ethnography, it focuses on the practical work of care users in employing carers and making use of their services and the work of paid carers in providing care that fits with the users’ as well as their own expectations. The project addresses the following main research question: What opportunities for a self-determined life and what opportunities for a subjectively valuable job situation are created through the care and employment relationship for care users and workers respectively, and how is this influenced by institutional and organizational conditions? Due to its fragmented benefit system and diversity of associated employment regulations, the Swiss social care system provides an interesting case to study how institutional and organizational conditions affect care and employment relationships in the context of the same labor market. The project compares direct employment relationships within the Personal Assistance Allowance scheme with direct employment relationships with other funding (e.g. Helplessness Allowance, private funds) with regard to four sub-questions: 1. What kind of work does the process of using and providing care involve for care users and workers? 2. How do they determine and negotiate the conditions of their relationship? 3. How are their practices coordinated by institutions, such as benefit types and employment regulations? 4. What is the role of intermediaries – non-profit advice centers, pay-rolling agencies or job platforms in shaping their care and employment relationship(s)? To answer these questions, semi-structured interviews with 40 care users and 40 care workers will be conducted, resulting in 80 interviews in total. In addition, documents with information about the organizational and institutional conditions framing the care and employment relationships are collected. The sample will include 20 dyadic relationships and 20 care users and 20 care workers who are not related to each other. For the dyads, the data will be complemented by field observations to capture practices and interactions as they enfold in real life situations. The data are analyzed using grounded theory coding techniques. The project will contribute to the discussion of how the quality of care and the quality of care jobs arise in interrelation with each other by analyzing how the capabilities of care users and workers are shaped interdependently. Specifically, it will generate knowledge about the experiences of care workers who are employed in direct payment schemes. Their situation has been a blind spot both in research and social policy, although it is described as a key factor for ensuring reliable assistance services and thus, for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.