In, Against and Beyond Precarity: Work in Insecure Times

Abstract

In this Foreword to the special issue 'In, Against and Beyond Precarity' the guest editors take stock of the existing literature on precarity, highlighting the strengths and limitations of using this concept as an analytical tool for examining the world of work. Concluding that the overstretched nature of concept has diluted its political effectiveness, the editors suggest instead a focus on precarization as a process, drawing from perspectives that focus on the objective conditions, as well as subjective and heterogeneous experiences and perceptions of insecure employment. Framed in this way, they present a summary of the contributions to the special issue spanning a range of countries and organizational contexts, identifying key drivers, patterns and forms of precarization. These are conceptualized as implicit, explicit, productive and citizenship precarization. These forms and patterns indicate the need to address precariousness in the realm of social reproduction and post-wage politics, while holding these in tension with conflicts at the point of production. Finally, the guest editors argue for a dramatic rethink of current forms of state and non-state social protections as responses to the precarization of work and employment across countries in both the Global 'North' and 'South'.

‘If He Just Knew Who We Were’: Microworkers’ Emerging Bonds of Attachment in a Fragmented Employment Relationship

“…In the absence of a single employing entity, individuals construct a network of attachments as a means of alleviating the experience of transitional and uncertain employment (Petriglieri et al, 2019). Microworker involvement with an online community can enhance psychological safety, just as seeking support is a means of resisting victimisation in precarious workplaces (Alberti et al, 2018). Attachment to supportive online sites also provides information and shared experiences of specific platforms, thus tangibly reducing the inherent ambiguity of the employment relationship.…”

Law and Precariousness in an Authoritarian State: The Case of Illegal House Construction in Vietnam

“…The notion of precariousness has been increasingly examined in relation to the changing nature of work amidst global industrial transformations and the sociological implications of legal reform and governance in insecure times (Neilson and Rossiter ; Kalleberg ; Vosko ; Alberti et al ; Carr, Edgeworth, and Hunter ). In Western democracies, neoliberal economic development and the decline of the welfare state have transformed the state of redistributive justice from an egalitarian model to a more individualized, market‐based model of risk management.…”

The Realities and Futures of Work, by DavidPeetz.ANU Press Acton ACT 2601, Australia, 2019, 405 pp., ISBN (print): 978 1 76046 310 6, Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au, paperback.

“…The authors, although insightfully acknowledging in the introductory chapter the complexity of the definition of precarious work (p.xi), use a range of terms without previously having clarified differences. Therefore, terms such as precarity, precariousness, precarisation, which refer to a wider notion, are used interchangeably to terms such as precarious work and working conditions and precarious employment, which are more specific (Alberti et al 2018). As an example, precarisation is the process that leads to precarity, whereas precarity, the state of being precarious, as a wider concept is not only limited to precarious work but entails non-work aspects (Kalleberg and Vallas 2018).…”