Precarity

Bibliographic Data

ID4903473
AuthorsKasmir (0000-0001-5488-3118, Hofstra University, corresponding author), Sharryn Kasmir, Rupert Stasch
EditorsF Stein (0000-0002-0123-9895), Sian Lazar (0000-0002-0056-6333), M Candea (0000-0001-7260-4194), Hildegard Diemberger (0009-0004-7655-6520), Joel Robbins
Year2018
Publication date2018-03-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen Encyclopedia of Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2398-516X • E-ISSN: 2398-516X
PublisherThe Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.29164/18precarity
OpenAlexW4230814855
LanguageEN
Citations received49
References cited23

Precarity emerged as a central concern in scholarly research and writing in the twenty-first century, partly in response to political mobilizations against unemployment and social exclusion. Together with related concepts—such as precarious, precariousness, precaritization and ‘the precariat’—precarity refers to the fact that much of the world’s population lacks stable work and steady incomes. Informal, temporary, or contingent work is the predominant mode of livelihood in the contemporary world, where garbage picking, performing day labor, selling petty commodities, and sourcing task-based ‘gigs’ through digital platforms exemplify some of precarity’s many forms. This notion of precarity posits two related claims: first is a pronouncement that precarity is new and that it manifests a distinctive phase of capitalist development associated with neoliberalism. Second is an assertion that precaritization fundamentally alters class relations and therefore it transforms collective identities and politics. In turn, these arguments are criticised for forgetting that precarity has always been a feature of capitalist societies and that precariousness has perpetually characterised working people’s lives, especially in the Global South. Precariousness is also used to denote a general, pervasive ontological condition of vulnerability, displacement, and insecurity, not explicitly tied to the contemporary form of neoliberal capitalism or class relations, but instead characteristic of transhistorical and existential forces. This philosophical framing inspires close-to-the-skin descriptions of precariousness that highlight experiences and feelings of anxiety, disenfranchisement, and loss of hope for the future

Capitalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Precarious work · Precarity · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Political Economy and Marxism

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