We Don't Have the Same Opportunities as Others

Shining Bourdieu's Lens on UK Roma Migrants' Precarious (Workers') Habitus

Bibliographic Data

ID2374491
AuthorsPatricia Harrison (Liverpool John Moores University, corresponding author), Helen Collins (0000-0001-9380-9025, Liverpool John Moores University), Alexandra Bahor (Granby Toxteth Development Trust, UK)
Year2022
Volume36
Issue2
Pages217-234
Publication date2022-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017020979502
OpenAlexW3113480244
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited50

According to a 2019 UK government report, Roma had the 'worst employment outcomes' of any ethnic group in the UK with similar evidence in Europe. Roma are in the growing flexible, mobile workforce that constitute precarious, insecure workers. Based on a qualitative in-depth study of these precarious workers, and utilising Bourdieu's concepts, we show the impact of flexploitation, while sharing Roma's habitus and capitals that distinguish and challenge the dominant homogenous narrative about the response to precarity. We argue that Roma, owing to their long-standing, symbiotic relationship with precarity, compounded by centuries-old persecution, offer insights into the lived experience of precarious workers. While not diminishing the impact of flexploitation, we culminate with our claim that Roma possess a precarious habitus and, as such, are a 'fish in water' with a distinguishing feature of 'social capital on the move

Capital (architecture · Cultural capital · Ethnic group · Geography · Government (linguistics · Habitus · Immigration · Narrative · Political science · Precarious work · Precarity · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics · Workforce · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Romani and Gypsy Studies · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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