Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens
This article reviews the concept of precarity and offers critical reflections on its contribution to the study of contemporary labour and livelihoods. A stock-take of key and recent literature suggests that, despite conceptual ambiguity and overstretching, “thinking with precarity” continues to pro...
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McMaster University Library Press
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Global Labour Journal |
| Online Access: | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4138 |
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doaj-42ba142637664fd49c84274287d1e9ff2021-04-02T21:30:49ZengMcMaster University Library PressGlobal Labour Journal1918-67112020-09-0111310.15173/glj.v11i3.4138Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity LensRichard W. Mallett0London School of Economics This article reviews the concept of precarity and offers critical reflections on its contribution to the study of contemporary labour and livelihoods. A stock-take of key and recent literature suggests that, despite conceptual ambiguity and overstretching, “thinking with precarity” continues to prove a valuable and worthwhile exercise – so long as that thinking is carefully articulated. This involves understanding precarity as: 1) rooted in concrete labour market experiences but also connected to broader anxieties over social and political life; 2) a process-focused concept rather than end-state descriptor; and 3) speaking to longer histories and wider geographies than its commonplace status as a residual term or category implies. The analytical advantages of thinking in such a way are illustrated through a critical analysis of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2019 on the “changing nature of work”, and in particular its handling of digital labour. KEYWORDS: precarious work; politics of precarity; livelihoods; digital labour; gig economy https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4138 |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Richard W. Mallett |
| spellingShingle |
Richard W. Mallett Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens Global Labour Journal |
| author_facet |
Richard W. Mallett |
| author_sort |
Richard W. Mallett |
| title |
Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens |
| title_short |
Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens |
| title_full |
Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens |
| title_fullStr |
Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Seeing the "Changing Nature of Work" through a Precarity Lens |
| title_sort |
seeing the "changing nature of work" through a precarity lens |
| publisher |
McMaster University Library Press |
| series |
Global Labour Journal |
| issn |
1918-6711 |
| publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
| description |
This article reviews the concept of precarity and offers critical reflections on its contribution to the
study of contemporary labour and livelihoods. A stock-take of key and recent literature suggests
that, despite conceptual ambiguity and overstretching, “thinking with precarity” continues to prove
a valuable and worthwhile exercise – so long as that thinking is carefully articulated. This involves
understanding precarity as: 1) rooted in concrete labour market experiences but also connected to
broader anxieties over social and political life; 2) a process-focused concept rather than end-state
descriptor; and 3) speaking to longer histories and wider geographies than its commonplace status
as a residual term or category implies. The analytical advantages of thinking in such a way are
illustrated through a critical analysis of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2019 on the
“changing nature of work”, and in particular its handling of digital labour.
KEYWORDS: precarious work; politics of precarity; livelihoods; digital labour; gig economy
|
| url |
https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4138 |
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AT richardwmallett seeingthechangingnatureofworkthroughaprecaritylens |
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