Young precariat and a new work order? A case for historical sociology

Bibliographic Data

ID12601331
AuthorsJ Bessant (0000-0001-7385-5358, RMIT University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume21
Issue6
Pages780-798
Publication date2018-01-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-6261 • E-ISSN: 1469-9680
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13676261.2017.1420762
OpenAlexW2783070996
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited41

This article assesses Guy Standing's (2011) account of ‘the precariat’ as a ‘new class' to the many exercises undertaken in youth studies since the 1980s to make sense of the changing patterns of youth employment. While Standing's focus on the experience of fragmented and casualized work in many economies which now implicates young people has value, there are significant problems with his account that highlights the some difficulties in thinking in somewhat abstracted ways about ‘structural’ change processes that do not sufficiently consider the question of time. The case of Australia's of labour market regulation since the 1890s is used to test the validity of Standing's focus on the novelty of neoliberalism after the early 1980 to explain the emergence of precarious employment. Standing's claim that insecurity is central to the ‘new precariat’ because they lack the different kinds of security enjoyed by the ‘working-class’ after 1945, highlights the need for an interpretative framework attentive to the longer term role of state policy and the interplay of historical and local processes. The case is then made for developing a historical sociology that engages with what is now happening in respect to young people and their employment security

Neoliberalism (international relations · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Precarity · Sociology · State (computer science · Working class · Youth studies · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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