Definition

Precarity refers to labor performed in absence of either predictability or security, thus affecting social and psychological welfare. The term has been specifically applied to define the growing incidence of casualized work and precarious living conditions in Western societies.

Precarity in Europe

It is a term of everyday usage as Precariedad, Précarité, or Precarietà in a number of European countries, where it refers to the widespread condition of temporary, flexible, contingent, casual, intermittent work in postindustrial societies, brought about by the neoliberal labor market reforms that have strengthened the right to manage and the bargaining power of employers since the late 1970s. A post-industrial society is a proposed name for an economy that has undergone a specific series of changes in structure after a process of industrialization. ...

Precarity is a general term to describe how large parts of the population are being subjected to flexible exploitation or flexploitation (low pay, high blackmailability, intermittent income, etc.), and existential precariousness (high risk of social exclusion because of low incomes, welfare cuts, high cost of living, etc.) The condition of precarity is said to affect all of service labor in a narrow sense, and the whole of society in a wider sense, but particularly youth, women, and immigrants.

While contingent labor has been a constant of capitalist societies since the industrial revolution, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri have argued^[1] that the flexible labor force has now moved from the peripheral position it had under Fordism to a core position in the process of capitalist accumulation under Post-Fordism, which is thought to be increasingly based on the casualized efforts of affective, creative, immaterial labor. There is scattered empirical evidence in support of this thesis, such as the growing share of non-standard employment on the overall labor force, particularly on new hires. For example, in Western Europe, between a quarter and a third of the labor force now works under temporary and/or part-time contracts, with peaks in UK, Holland, Spain and Italy. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Contingent Workforce Outsourcing. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Antonio Toni Negri (born August 1, 1933) is an Italian Marxist political philosopher. ... Fordism, named after Henry Ford, has different meanings in the United States and Europe. ... Post-fordism is the mode of production increasingly found in most industrialized countries today, which can be contrasted with fordism, the productive method typified by Henry Fords car plants, in which workers work on a production line, performing specialised tasks repetetively. ...

More problematic is the fact that precarity seems to conflate two categories of workers that are at opposite ends of labor market segmentation in postindustrial economies: pink collars working in retail and low-end services (cleaners, janitors, etc.) under constrictive but standardized employment norms; and young talent temping for cheap in the information economy of big cities around the world: the creative class of strongly individualistic workers illustrated by managerial literature. The creative class is a group of people that social scientist Dr. Richard Florida, Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, believes are a key driving force for economic development of post-industrial cities in the USA. The Creative Class concept is controversial, as is Floridas methodology. ...

It also remains to be seen whether the insider/outsider division that economists observe in European labor markets means that the young, precarious, non-voting, and non-owning outsiders have fundamentally conflicting aims with respect to older insiders, who tend to work full-time, long-term contracts, enjoy relatively high pension benefits and who command a disproportionate weight in European public opinion and political debate.

Precarity and the Antiglobalization Movement

Around year 2000, the word started being used in its English usage by some antiglobalization activists (Marches Européennes contre le chômage la précarité et les exclusions - European Marches against unemployment, precarity and social exclusion), and also in EU official reports on social welfare. But it was in the strikes of young part-timers at McDonald's and Pizza Hut in the winter of 2000, that the first political union network emerged in Europe explicitly devoted to fighting precarity: Stop Précarité, with links to AC!, CGT, SUD, CNT, Trotskyites and other elements of the French radical left.^[2] Anti-WEF grafiti in Lausanne. ... ... The Scottish Clan Donald (motto: Per Mare Per Terras which means By sea and by land ) is split into several branches including MacDonald of the Isles, MacDonald of Clan Ranald, MacDonald of Sleat, MacDonald of Keppoch, MacDonald of Ardnamurchan and McDonell of Glengarry. ... Pizza Hut Inc. ... CGT can be a three-letter abbreviation for: Capital gains tax Confederacion General del Trabajo de España, a Spanish trade union Confédération Générale du Travail, the French national trade union center The Confederación General del Trabajo de la República Argentina, the national trade... CNT may be: Confederación Nacional del Trabajo Confédération nationale du travail (CNT-F) Carbon nanotube Computer Network Technology Corporation, an enterprise adquired by McData in January 2005 This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages... 1915 passport photo of Trotsky Leon Davidovich Trotsky (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий; also transliterated Trotskii, Trotski, Trotzky) (October 26 (O.S.) = November 7 (N.S.), 1879 - August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (&#1051...

In 2001 Italian antiglobalization collectives and networks, as they were preparing for the Genoa counter-summit just months away, inaugurated in Milan a new kind of first of may, MAYDAY, spelling it like the international call for rescue, and explicitly centering it on the street representation of the so-called "precarious generation." It employed carnival-like techniques of agitation (allegorical wagons, media subvertising, colorful actions etc.) in imitation of gay prides and love parades of the 1990s. Italian activists meant it as a revival of the wobbly traditions of May Day, and consequently as a break with traditional union representation and social-democratic compromise that had allowed precarity and social insecurity to spread unchecked to reach critical levels in all of Europe, thus repeating the experience of UK and US economies with a few years' lag. For other uses, see Genoa (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ... Look up mayday in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article describes the festival season. ... Gay pride or LGBT pride refers to a world wide movement and philosophy asserting that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. ... The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ... May Day is May 1, and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. ...

By 2003, the event had grown exponentially in size, and Catalan antiglobalization activists participated as non-neutral observers. In 2004, activists in Barcelona joined the Mayday efforts, as delegations of French Intermittents participated as guests of honor in both mayday parades. The same year saw the launch of the icon of San Precario, patron saint of the struggle against precarity. The religious imagery proved very popular in Italy and elsewhere, and would colonize the mainstream mediascape in the following years. By virtue of all these developments, Mayday 2004 drew 80,000 young protesters from all over Italy. This attracted attention from other parts of Europe. Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ... Look up icon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

San Precario

February 29 is the day of San Precario, the patron saint of precarious workers. S/he was created by the Chainworkers at the Milanese space Reload where the 2004 EuroMayDay was organised with others including the Critical Mass group. The Milan Critical Mass already had its own patron saint, Santa Graziella (Graziella is the name of a bicycle firm). For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ... ReLoad is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in 1997. ... EuroMayDay is a political day of action against precarity promoted by a network of feminist, anti-capitalist and migrant groups and collectives in mostly Western Europe. ... Supercritical redirects here. ...

San Precario was originally convceived as a male saint (Romano, 2004). ChainWorkers then did a hoax in 2005 during the Milano Fashion Week, by using a fictive stylist who was in fact an anagram for San Precario (the Saint's first pubblic appearance was at a Sunday supermarket opening on Feb 29, 2004) called Serpica Naro.

The groups claim that the name functions like a multiple user name or myth such as Luther Blissett and quote the Wu Ming collective in giving theoretical coherence, although it is mostly seen as a Catholic detournement of the concept. [1] Luther Blissett can refer to: Luther Blissett (footballer), Jamaican/English footballer. ... Wu Ming Wu Ming (Chinese for Anonymous) is a pseudonym for a group of Italian authors formed in 2000 from a subset of the Luther Blissett community in Bologna. ... In detournement, an artist reuses elements of well-known media to create a new work with a different message, often one opposed to the original. ...

Precarity and EuroMayDay

In October 2004, libertarian and syndicalist collectives from across Europe gathered at Middlesex University at "Beyond ESF" (a critical reference to the European Social Forum that was being held in London at the same time) in order to give life to a unified European May Day of precarious and migrant workers: EUROMAYDAY, which involved a dozen Western European cities in 2005, and about twenty in 2006, with Milan, Paris, Helsinki, Hamburg, and Sevilla among the most lively nodes. In 2006, the mayday process was launched in Brussels on Good Friday with a few hundred activists from Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany protesting against pro-business lobbies in Europe: "no borders, no precarity: fuck the new inequality!". The European Social Forum (ESF) is an annual conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement (also known as the Global Justice Movement). ... The borders of Western Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. ... For other places with the same name, see Brussels (disambiguation). ... Good Friday is the Friday before Easter (Easter always falls on a Sunday). ...

The EuroMayDay network has gathered several times across the EU to discuss in its assemblies common actions against precarity and mobilizations against the persecution of immigrants, and particularly the segregation of undocumented migrants in detention centers all over Europe. EuroMayDay demands the full adoption of the EU directive on temporary workers being blocked by the Barroso Commission, as well as a European minimum wage and basic income. Cyber and queer rights are also part of the mayday deliberations and activities. EuroMayDay is a political day of action against precarity promoted by a network of feminist, anti-capitalist and migrant groups and collectives in mostly Western Europe. ... The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 31 October 2009. ...

Rebelling against Precarity in France, Denmark, and the US

A core constituency of mayday has been the movement of Intermittents, the French expression to refer to stage hands and showbiz personnel. In 2002-2005, the Intermittents captured the French imagination and filled the press with their inventive rebellious tactics (e.g. they famously disrupted live TV news programs and the 2004 edition of the Cannes festival) denouncing precarity in the form of cuts to their unemployment benefits (they counterproposed an alternative reform of the system which was so well crafted that put French élites and union leaders in an awkward position). Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. ...

In the early months of 2006, French youth rejected the CPE, the first-job contract introduced by the government who made it easier to fire workers under age 26. Clashes with the riot police, as it reclaimed Sorbonne from occupying students was the signal that something major was happening, as the university had been the epicenter of social insurgence in 1968. Four decades later, France was again paralyzed by huge student demonstrations and solidarity strikes called by the major French unions, as well as the more militant unions and organizations. With the vast majority of French universities occupied for more than a month, and the whole nation on strike, the Villepin government was forced to withdraw the provision, in a test of force with democracy in the streets that weakened the presidency itself. Le Monde commented that "précarité" was going to be a central issue in the upcoming 2007 presidential elections. Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (born November 14, 1953, in Rabat, Morocco), simply known as Dominique de Villepin   listen?, is a French diplomat and politician. ...

A few months before, France had been rocked by generalized rioting of the French youth of Arab and African descent in its suburban ghettos (cités), who sought to express angst at racial and economic discrimination that they were experiencing from the rest of French society. Although expressions of the same national malaise and social anguish, banlieue rioters and student protesters did not really share tactics and demands. The French explosion of 2006 against precarity was followed a few months later by a lengthy general strike in Denmark to protest against welfare cuts especially discriminatory with respect to young people. All universities were occupied, and the right-wing government was forced to withdraw the provisions that had to do with student subsidies and other welfare benefits for young people, although it retained pension cuts for older employees.

In a different context, May Day 2006 was also a historic day of protest for U.S. immigrants, mostly of Latin-American origin, who mobilized in all major American cities to protest against a punitive anti-immigration bill being discussed in Congress. Hundreds of thousands of people from San Francisco to Chicago celebrated the first of May by taking the streets against increased repression of undocumented immigrants by the Bush administration. Grassroots and community organizing, helped and funded by the progressive wing of North-America's organized labor — which had already been behind the successful Justice for Janitors campaign, narrated by Ken Loach in Bread and Roses, that has organized many legal and illegal immigrants in Los Angeles — were crucial for the media attention and social impact of the demonstrations. Justice for Janitors is a movement of janitors uniting for the best working conditions. ... Ken Loach Kenneth Loach (born June 17, 1936), known as Ken Loach, is an English television and film director, known for his naturalistic style and socialist themes. ...

See also

• Casualisation
• Catholic social teaching
• Christian anarchism
• Defunct First Employment Contract (CPE)
• New Employment Contract (CNE)
• Directive on services in the internal market, also known as "Bolkestein Directive".
• Prekariat - the social class, not necessarily poor or members of a particular underclass, disposed towards precarity. The prekariat is the post-Fordist analogue of the proletariat (in German)

Casualisation is an economics term to describe the process by which employment shifts from a preponderance of full-time and permanent or contract positions to higher levels of casual positions. ... Catholic social teaching comprises those aspects of Catholic doctrine which relate to matters dealing with the collective aspect of humanity. ... Christian anarchism is any of several traditions which combine anarchism with Christianity. ... Demonstration against CPE, March 28, 2006, Paris Jussieu en lutte (Jussieu is fighting), Villepin va précariser. ... Contrat nouvelle embauche (abbreviated to CNE, New Employment Contract aka New Recruitment Contract or sometimes New-job contract in English) is a new French job contract, proposed by prime minister Dominique de Villepin (UMP) and that came into force by decree on August 4, 2005. ... The Directive on services in the internal market (commonly referred to as the Bolkestein Directive) is an initiative of the European Commission aimed at creating a single market for services within the European Union. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ...

References

External links

• http://www.euromarches.org
• http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/publications/2003/ke5103471_en.html
• http://www.euromayday.org/
• http://www.chainworkers.org/
• http://www.yomango.net
• http://www.cip-idf.org
• http://www.greenpeppermagazine.org/process/tiki-index.php?page=Precarity+Issue
• http://www.metamute.org/en/node/415
• http://eipcp.net/transversal/0704
• http://adbusters.org/blogs/Big_Ideas_Precarity.html
• http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue5/neilson_rossiter.html
• http://www.republicart.net/disc/precariat/index.htm
• http://helsinki.euromayday.org/index2.htm
• http://berlin.euromayday.org/
• http://www.maydaysur.org/
• http://www.maydayfr.org/
• http://www.actupparis.org/
• http://www.generation-precaire.org/
• http://www.ac.eu.org
• http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/04/france_the_prec.html