PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT AND PRECARIOUS LIVES

In a previous paper we argued the so-called new economy is characterized by four processes: postindustrialism, the knowledge society, new technologies and precarious employment (Clement et al. 2009). Here we approach precarious employment from comparative and intersectional perspectives and suggest enriching the concept of precarious employment with precarious lives. This raises some questions: What does it mean to live precarious lives? Who is at risk of experiencing precariousness and where? What are buffers against precariousness? How can we document and compare precarious lives? We believe that the notion of intersectionality provides a framework to understand precarious lives. Comparing precarious lives has much to do with harmonized cross-national data. The final section of this chapter illustrates prospects and frustrations for comparative analysis