Jankowski Krzysztof Z
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Br J Sociol. 2024 Dec;75(5):715-730. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.13125. Epub 2024 Jun 19.
Conceptualising precarity has come to rest on the multi-dimensional and differentiated insecurities of job and worker, this however belies the relationship between structure and experience where precarity originates. To bridge that relationship, I employ the landscape concept to position workers relative to the structural contingency of precarious work. To study this landscape, I conducted an ethnography involving job searching, working, and interviewing workers. While certainly insecure, these jobs displayed parallel characteristics of streamlined hiring and short-notice starts which workers took advantage of. I explore three ideal-typical 'jobs'-the first, only, and best job-to examine how vulnerability is balanced with contingency to produce precarity. This analysis and the landscape approach locate the political-economic transformation of work in the context of workers' lives and their labour market position. Taking precarious work is an act of balancing one's vulnerabilities in a way that constructs and thus naturalises precarity. Overall, the article contributes an image of an economy where workers have to be opportunistic in a continual struggle for work while stratified by their personal circumstances and position in this labour market.
对不稳定状态的概念化已落脚于工作和工人多维度且有差异的不安全感之上，然而这掩盖了不稳定状态产生的结构与体验之间的关系。为弥合这种关系，我运用景观概念来定位工人相对于不稳定工作的结构偶然性的位置。为研究这一景观，我开展了一项民族志研究，涉及求职、工作以及对工人的访谈。这些工作固然不安全，但呈现出招聘流程简化和接到通知后短时间内就开始工作的平行特征，工人们利用了这些特征。我探究三种理想类型的“工作”——第一份工作、唯一的工作和最好的工作——以考察脆弱性如何与偶然性相平衡从而产生不稳定状态。这种分析以及景观方法将工作的政治经济转型置于工人生活及其劳动力市场地位的背景之中。接受不稳定工作是一种以构建并因此使不稳定状态自然化的方式平衡自身脆弱性的行为。总体而言，本文描绘了一幅经济图景，在其中，工人在持续的工作竞争中不得不把握机会，同时又因其个人情况和在这一劳动力市场中的地位而被分层。
