Prof Guy Standing presents new book at the Bath Literary Festival
Book cover of Professor Guy Standing's book 'The Precariat - The New Dangerous Class'
19 March 2012
Professor Guy Standing presented his new book, The Precariat – The New Dangerous Class, at the Bath Literary Festival on 3 March 2012. He has also been invited to present it at over 80 other venues in 20 countries.
About the book
The underlying theme of the book is that a growing number of people, including millions in Britain, have been entering a global precariat, part of an emerging class structure shaped by globalisation. The book poses five questions. What is the precariat? Why care about it? Why is it growing? Who is most likely to be in the precariat? And where is it leading us?
The brief answer to the first question is that it consists of millions of people drawn into conditions of social and economic insecurity, without occupational identities, drifting in and out of jobs, or expecting to do so, constantly worried about their incomes, their housing and much else. It particularly affects youth, many of whom are realising that their certificates and degrees are little more than tickets to a lottery, leading many into insecurity and status frustration.
It is the last question that is the most politically urgent. Will the growth of the precariat lead society towards an authoritarian politics of inferno, with neo-fascist overtones? Or will a new progressive agenda emerge in the squares and cities of protest, responding to the values of the Enlightenment and the aspirations of the educated younger generation being drawn into the precariat?
The book examines the labour market dynamics that underpin the growth of the precariat and set out the nucleus of a new ‘politics of paradise’ that is beginning to take shape outside the political mainstream.
Purchase the book
The book can be ordered online, or obtained from the author at a discounted rate. For further information, please contact:
Professor Guy Standing
Email:
g.standing@bath.ac.uk | Tel: +44 (0) 1225
38 3846
