Literary Latitude

Literature of Precarity refers to a body of work that explores the conditions and experiences of individuals and communities living under uncertain, insecure, and unstable circumstances. This literature delves into various forms of economic, social, and political vulnerabilities, examining how they shape identities, communities, and everyday lives. The concept of precarity encompasses a wide range of issues including labor instability, poverty, migration, environmental crises, and the erosion of social safety nets.

The literature often highlights the following themes:

1. Economic Instability and Labor Conditions: Precarious work conditions, such as those involving temporary, part-time, or gig employment, which lack job security, benefits, and adequate wages, are a central focus. For example, Chris Hann and Jonathan Parry discuss the marginalization of industrial labor and the impact of neoliberal policies on job security in Industrial Labor on the Margins of Capitalism (Hann & Parry, 2018)​​.
2. Social and Political Vulnerability: This includes the experiences of marginalized groups, such as migrants, refugees, and ethnic minorities, who often face systemic discrimination and exclusion. Ulrik Schierup and Martin Bak Jørgensen’s Politics of Precarity: Migrant Conditions, Struggles, and Experiences examines these dynamics and the struggles for rights and recognition faced by these groups (Schierup & Jørgensen, 2016)​​.
3. Gender and Identity: The intersection of precarity with gender and identity is another significant theme. Kavita Daiya’s Graphic Migrations: Precarity and Gender in India and the Diaspora explores how gendered identities are constructed and challenged within precarious conditions (Daiya, 2020)​​.
4. Environmental Precarity: This includes the impact of ecological disasters and climate change on communities, as discussed by Pramod K. Nayar in Nuclear Cultures: Irradiated Subjects, Aesthetics and Planetary Precarity (Nayar, 2022)​​.
5. Cultural and Aesthetic Responses: The ways in which precarious lives are represented in literature, art, and media also form a crucial part of this field. Myung Mi Kim and Cristanne Miller’s Poetics and Precarity explores how poetry and other forms of art engage with and reflect precarious conditions (Kim & Miller, 2018)​​.
6. Political Activism and Solidarity: The literature often examines how precarious conditions give rise to new forms of political activism and solidarity. For instance, Emily J. Hogg and Peter Simonsen’s Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture looks at how contemporary cultural productions respond to and resist precarious conditions (Hogg & Simonsen, 2021)​​.

References

• Hann, Chris, and Jonathan Parry, editors. Industrial Labor on the Margins of Capitalism: Precarity, Class, and the Neoliberal Subject. Berghahn Books, 2018.
• Schierup, Ulrik, and Martin Bak Jørgensen, editors. Politics of Precarity: Migrant Conditions, Struggles, and Experiences. BRILL, 2016.
• Daiya, Kavita. Graphic Migrations: Precarity and Gender in India and the Diaspora. Temple University Press, 2020.
• Nayar, Pramod K. Nuclear Cultures: Irradiated Subjects, Aesthetics and Planetary Precarity. Routledge, 2022.
• Kim, Myung Mi, and Cristanne Miller, editors. Poetics and Precarity. SUNY Press, 2018.
• Hogg, Emily J., and Peter Simonsen, editors. Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.