The precariat : the new dangerous class / / Guy Standing.

• Author: Standing, Guy.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (ix, 198 p.)

This work introduces the precariat - a growing number of people living and working precariously, without recourse to stable occupational identities or social protection. The author discusses the consequences of this new form of labour identity and the ways in which the precariat might be re-engaged in civil society. This book presents the Precariat - an emerging class, comprising the rapidly growing number of people facing lives of insecurity, moving in and out of jobs that give little meaning to their lives.Guy Standing argues that this class is producing instabilities in society. Although it would be wrong to characterise members of the Precariat as victims, many are frustrated and angry. The Precariat is dangerous because it is internally divided, leading to the villainisation of migrants and other vulnerable groups. Lacking agency, its members may be susceptible to the siren calls of political extremism.To prevent a 'politics of inferno', Guy Standing argues for a 'politics of paradise', in which redistribution and income security are reconfi gured in a new kind of Good Society, and in which the fears and aspirations of the Precariat are made central to a progressive strategy.

Table of Contents

PrefaceAbbreviations1 The Precariat2 Why the Precariat is Growing3 Who Enters the Precariat4 Migrants: Victims, Villains orHeroes?5 Labour, Work and the Time Squeeze 6 A Politics of inferno7 A Politics ofParadiseBibliography Index