Toward a critical politics of precarity

Abstract

In recent years, the term precarity has proliferated in the social sciences at the risk of losing its analytical purchase. This review considers the value and limitations of precarity in the various ways it has operated as both a theoretical and political concept. It first traces the historical development of the term in sociology and cognate fields, ultimately arguing for a relational approach to the concept rooted in the analysis of specific labor conditions. It then examines emergent critiques of the (often hidden) political work that the concept of precarity performs. That is, the denunciatory discourse of precarity, ironically, has the potential to uphold normative forms of work and life, including the ideal of full‐time wage labor. Instead, a critical politics of precarity leaves open the question of how precarious labor relates to precarious life and attends to ruptures that offer alternatives to the valorization of waged work.

Onward Precarity, Mobility, and Migration among Latin Americans in London

“…The latter is often associated both with Butler's (:ii) delineation of a precarious life as suffering from failing networks of support and a visceral exposure to injury, violence and death, and Ettlinger's (:320) conceptualisation denoting a “condition of vulnerability relative to contingency and the inability to predict”. The specific relationship between precarity and employment dates back to Bourdieu's research on workers in Algeria in the late 1960s and expounded in terms of the casualisation of work in 1990s France (Millar ) as well as to debates on marginality and informalisation in the global South (Munck ). This has evolved into conceptualising precarity as a labour condition linked with neoliberal restructuring and globalisation (Kalleberg ) or from Standing's () perspective, as a class or category denoted as the “precariat”.…”

“…Critiques revolve around the fact that precarity is not a specific outcome of post‐Fordist labour relations (Neilson and Rossiter ; Waite ), and the precariat is not an undifferentiated class not least because precarity can also be experienced by elite professional classes (Munck ). More nuanced interpretations have also emerged that recognise context‐specificities of precarity that can be viewed as highly exploitative as well as potentially more positive (Millar ).…”

Gendered Migrant Labour: Marriage and the Political Economy of Wage Labour and Cash Crops in Late Colonial and Post‐Independence Southern Tanzania

“…Additionally, they propel scholars to understand precarity, as Kathleen Millar has recently insisted, as both 'a socio-economic condition and an ontological experience'. 15 To detail the interconnections of a gendered political economy, marital instability and women's mobility in southern Tanzania from the 1930s to the 1970s, the first section examines how the intensification of wage labour and household cash crop production dramatically altered the sexual division of labour within households and contributed to household and regional food insecurity. 16 This section shows that one of the ways in which women coped with food insecurity and its accompanying emotional duress was to repeatedly enter and exit marriages in the hopes of securing more equitable unions.…”

Precarious Aging: Insecurity and Risk in Late Life

“…The concept of precarity refers to insecurities in the context of global economic and social change, including unwanted risks and the costly hazards of contemporary life that result from globalization, neoliberalization, and declining social protection. According to Louise Waite, precarity denotes “life worlds characterized by uncertainty and insecurity,” and it implies “both a condition and a possible rallying point for resistance.” In a similar vein, Kathleen Millar outlines three ways of thinking about precarity, including as a condition, as a category, and as an experience that includes the political action to counter precarity . Although precarity has been widely used in other fields, in particular with regards to changes in the labor market, its application to aging and late life is relatively new …”

“…2 In a similar vein, Kathleen Millar outlines three ways of thinking about precarity, including as a condition, as a category, and as an experience that includes the political action to counter precarity. 3 Although precarity has been widely used in other fields, in particular with regards to changes in the labor market, 4 its application to aging and late life is relatively new. 5 Two key writers who inform our understandings of insecurity and risk in late life are Guy Standing and Judith Butler.…”