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We are all Precarious: on the concept of the precariat and its misuses
I’ve been asked about this essay, originally published on the now
defunct New Left Project, several times. I’m putting it up here for
posterity.
Introduction: Standing for the precariat
In its current formulation, the concept of ‘the precariat’ is
unconvincing, impressionistic and certainly tinged with millennial
Weltschmerz. It is Guy Standing of Bath University who has done the most
to popularise the concept and, at the same time, give it some added
theoretical depth. He argues that the ‘precariat’ is a class-in-becoming
which, as it is consolidated, will represent a “new dangerous class”, a
“monster”: “Action is needed before that monster comes to life.” He
warns that if ‘the precariat’ is not understood – or rather, does not
understand itself, become a “class-for-itself” in language borrowed from
Hegelian Marxism – it is taking us toward a “politics of the inferno”.
This inferno would be a reconfigured fascism, with precarious workers
playing a role perhaps analogous (not too analogous, Standing insists)
to that of the old, much maligned, lumpenproletariat. This “dangerous
class” needs a “Voice” to articulate its particular “bundle of
insecurities”, lest it be led astray by the far right.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-are-all-on-of-37918050?utm_medium=post_notification_email
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