precarity
Life without safety
Precarity is the state of existing without security or predictability, especially regarding employment and livelihood.
The term gained currency describing workers in the gig economy and others lacking stable jobs, benefits, or protections: The precarity of freelance work means never knowing where next month's rent will come from.
It extends beyond economics to any condition of persistent vulnerability or uncertainty.
Openness to harm
- gig economyWork based on temporary contracts
- casualizationShift to temporary employment
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- underemploymentInsufficient use of labor capacity
wage theft · zero-hours · contractor · freelance · hustle · poverty · austerity · neoliberalism
Persistent apprehensive distress
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- ephemeralityCondition of being brief
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
- transienceBrevity of existence
fragility · tenuousness · contingency · finitude · mortality · groundlessness · liminality · rootlessness
Relegation to powerless periphery
- disenfranchisementRemoval of voting rights
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
segregation · discrimination · systemic risk · statelessness · undocumented · detention · deportability · rightlessness
Forced departure from rental
- homelessnessLacking permanent residence
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- gentrificationWealthy influx displacing locals
- transienceBrevity of existence
couch-surfing · shelter · squatting · rent burden · overcrowding · substandard · informal settlement · slum
vulnerability
Openness to harm
- gig economyWork based on temporary contracts
- casualizationShift to temporary employment
- exploitationSelfish use of others
underemployment · wage theft · zero-hours · contractor · freelance · hustle · poverty · austerity · neoliberalism · dispossession
anxiety
Persistent apprehensive distress
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- ephemeralityCondition of being brief
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
transience · fragility · tenuousness · contingency · finitude · mortality · groundlessness · liminality · rootlessness · alienation
marginalization
Relegation to powerless periphery
- disenfranchisementRemoval of voting rights
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
exclusion · segregation · discrimination · systemic risk · statelessness · undocumented · detention · deportability · rightlessness · disposability
eviction
Forced departure from rental
- homelessnessLacking permanent residence
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- gentrificationWealthy influx displacing locals
transience · couch-surfing · shelter · squatting · rent burden · overcrowding · substandard · informal settlement · slum · favela
- alienationestrangement, social isolation, disconnection, exclusion, outsider
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
precaritystability
Resistance to displacement
permanence · security · steadiness · permanency · durability
precaritysecurity
Protection from threat
safety · assurance · protection · shelter · certainty
precarityaffluence
Abundance of money
prosperity · privilege · financial security · job security · wealth