104 Symposium and automation shape what kind of work a vital task, one that transcends the silos of gets seen as precarious? What kind of polit- sociology to expand our reckoning of impor- ical and cultural conditions affect the trajec- tant social trends: understanding the tory of technology and its impact on who broader impacts of provisioning. gets to have work, who must work, and whose precarious lives depend on it? By adding culture, race and gender inequal- References ities, and technology to the conversation, Collins, Caitlyn. 2019. Making Motherhood Work: we can use Precarious Lives to think further How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving. about a future that is already here. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Kalleberg has written a comprehensive Gordon, Linda. 1995. Pitied but Not Entitled: Single comparative analysis of precarious work Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890–1935. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. and its effects that ripple out well beyond Pugh, Allison J. 2015. The Tumbleweed Society: work and the workplace. It is important Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity. that we understand how countries have New York: Oxford University Press. managed these effects and how institutional Quadagno, Jill S. 1994. The Color of Welfare: How and cultural practices shape consequences Racism Undermined the War on Poverty. New for the well-being of people, their families, York: Oxford University Press. and communities. The book contributes to

The Intersectionality of Precarity

JOYA MISRA University of Massachusetts-Amherst [email protected]

In Precarious Lives: Job Insecurity and Well- long experienced ‘‘uncertain, insecure, and Being in Rich Democracies, Arne Kalleberg risky work relations’’ (p. 18). takes a comparative approach to precarious Taking a Polanyian (1944) approach to work in wealthy countries—considering political economy, and building on power social welfare and labor market institutions resource theory, Kalleberg argues that in Denmark, Germany, Japan, Spain, the modern welfare states balance free and United Kingdom, and the United States flexible markets with state-provided social and making contributions not only to the protections. Unregulated markets lead to sociology of work and organizations but disaster—yet for reasons of culture as well also to political economy. Precarious work, as political and economic institutions, these for Kalleberg, means work that is ‘‘uncertain, countries have adopted different levels of unstable, and insecure, and in which employees social protection. State intervention includes bear the risk of work (as opposed to businesses social welfare spending and unemployment or the government) and receive limited social benefits, as well as active labor market poli- benefits and statutory entitlements’’ (p. 3, cies aimed at helping workers transition to emphasis original). Thus, precarious work new jobs and employment protections. The means that workers experience a high risk book also describes change over time, as of job loss and unpredictability, receive lim- neoliberal reforms have led to greater reli- ited wages and benefits, and can rely on ance on market solutions and fewer and few protections and labor rights. Precarious fewer protections for workers in all of these work has been increasing among workers countries. in wealthy countries—though precarity is Exploring nonstandard employment rela- nothing new, as Kalleberg states, and wom- tions, job insecurity, economic insecurity, en, immigrants, and workers of color have challenges transitioning to adulthood, and

Contemporary Sociology 50, 2 Symposium 105 subjective well-being, Kalleberg demon- between migrants from within Western strates that the countries under study have Europe and from elsewhere. Kalleberg occa- adopted different approaches to precarious sionally refers to immigrants and particular- jobs. While Denmark adopts embedded flex- ly their access to education and training. Yet ibilization, which allows markets to be flex- there are broad differences in ethnic diversi- ible while collectivizing risk, Germany, ty that may factor into the country variations Spain, and Japan adopt dualization, which that he points out. It would be important to protects some workers and abandons other know if the positive cases, like Denmark, workers to precarity. The United States and have also protected their immigrant labor the United Kingdom exemplify deregula- force. tory liberalization, allowing markets even Placing social reproduction more centrally greater freedom, extending precarity, and at the heart of these questions might identify leaving many, if not most, workers with how changes in gender regimes are con- very limited protections. nected to growing precarity. Social repro- The argument is both clear and appropri- duction refers to the ability of workers to ately complex and provides an important reproduce themselves. Capitalism tasks perspective on how precarious jobs have workers with producing goods or services become so common, the many negative out- that owners can sell at a profit—over and comes that emanate from precarity, and, above materials and labor costs. Yet those more hopefully, that it is possible to have labor costs should include enough for work- both strong economies and labor protec- ers to have families and produce the next tions. Kalleberg argues for three key policy generation of citizens and workers. If changes: a stronger safety net, greater access employers pay too little for workers to find to education and training, and more robust housing, shelter, and food, they will not be employment protections. able to work, much less reproduce. Histori- While I appreciate what Kalleberg has cally, as Kalleberg points out, employers accomplished, future work should build on and the state may prioritize support for par- his foundation, to understand this shift to ticular families, more likely to pay living precarity as further reflecting gender and wages to members of dominant racial and family dynamics as well as racial/ethnic ethnic groups. and immigration diversity. These are two sep- Much social reproduction occurs within arate points, although they dovetail in a num- families and is carried out by women, often ber of ways. We must recognize that precarity relying on the labor of immigrant and racial- is not an equal-opportunity disaster. minority women, who provide care for the Throughout the book, Kalleberg only tan- elderly, the sick, and children, as well as pre- gentially recognizes gender and families. paring food and other services employed For example, the book points out that while families farm out. Gender, race, and nation- men’s tenure at jobs has been decreasing, ality also intersect in how social reproduc- women’s tenure has been increasing, and it tion occurs. For dominant groups and for explains how precarious jobs have led to some time periods, men were able to earn delays in family formation and family stabili- a ‘‘male breadwinner wage,’’ which defini- ty. Yet the book does not fully consider how tionally meant that they could provide for economic transformations have led most fam- their families in ways that reflected an ilies to rely on two, rather than one, wage assumed gendered division of labor. In the earners or the attending impact on social current era, more women, including more reproduction. Precarity has fundamentally women from dominant groups, are engaged changed work patterns for men and women in labor market activities—not simply in wealthy countries. because of their interest in participating in Analyzing ethnicity and immigration is waged work, but also because employers a challenge in comparative political econo- expect that social reproduction occurs not my, since many European surveys do not through income from one worker but from consistently collect data on ethnicity and incomes from two or more workers and, in migration data often does not differentiate places like the United States, three or more

Contemporary Sociology 50, 2 106 Symposium jobs. This produces dramatic changes in the Families also rely on the precarious work gender regime, particularly for families of other service workers, such as immigrant from dominant groups. or racial-minority domestic and care work- Women from certain groups are more ers. Precarity thus consistently generates likely to find themselves in part-time not only class, but also gender, nationality, work—which may allow them to balance and race inequalities. Just as, for centuries, the unpaid work within the home that is immigrants and communities of color have necessary for social reproduction. Immi- subsidized the better conditions enjoyed by grant women and women of color are members of dominant groups, in the more likely to be in nonstandard care-work twenty-first century, they continue to subsi- arrangements, earning very low wages for dize the profits of employers and owners the critical work of social reproduction. Cer- even as members of dominant groups tain workers, by gender, race, and national- increasingly experience precarity. ity, are also more likely to be employed in The story about generalized precarity short-term, temporary positions with few takes on a different cast when recognizing protections. The precarity found in nonstan- that Spain, the United States, and the United dard employment relations reflects not only Kingdom are not only the most insecure, but class, but also gender, race, and nationality. also the most racially and ethnically diverse, Employers may be more likely to consign while Japan, Denmark, and Germany are workers to nonstandard employment rela- significantly less diverse (Drazanova 2019). tions when those workers are ‘‘others’’ or At the same time, families headed by single secondary wage earners. Drawing attention parents tend to be the most likely to experi- to who is affected by dualization and dereg- ence economic insecurity, and these families ulatory liberalization is a crucial research are much more prevalent in the United agenda. Kingdom and the United States. The lack Understanding job insecurity also requires of social protections thus may reflect a some- recognizing the meaning of men’s reduced what more heterogeneous population and job tenure while acknowledging the fact a lower commitment to ensuring the well- that women’s job tenure is increasing. It leads being of a diverse population. to analyzing which men’s job are more inse- Analyzing the transition to adulthood cure, as well as which women’s jobs are through a more consistent gender lens, as more secure. This further relates to how gen- well as a focus on variations among subpo- der, nationality, race, and class intersect in pulations, might also be instructive. Young determining how precarity is affecting fami- adults are more likely to live with their ly formation. Highly educated workers are parents in the twenty-first century, but much more likely to be in secure jobs and which parents are supporting adult children marry other highly educated workers. and which adult children are supporting Thus, household formation is magnifying their parents? While Kalleberg draws atten- economic insecurity for some groups and tion to how adult men find it difficult to find economic security for others. marriage partners if they are in precarious As Kalleberg’s analysis shows, it is also jobs, adult women may have the same prob- not simply that wages are too low, but that lem, particularly in liberal, low-protection jobs are insecure, so that workers have no countries. real confidence that if they lose their jobs, Similarly, making sense of how subjective they will be able to find something else well-being differs in each country—by not that allows them to support their families. only job and economic insecurity, but also Thus, increasingly, families rely on many how these intersect with gender, race, and different household members and multiple nationality—might deepen understanding jobs, in hopes of reducing their reliance on about what these different groups expect— any one job or employer. Women, of course, which workers expect less precarity, and bear a higher burden: necessary labor out- which workers are resigned to precarity. side the home and much of the labor within Thus gender, nationality, and race are the home. implicated in nonstandard employment

Contemporary Sociology 50, 2 Symposium 107 relations, job insecurity, economic insecurity, marketized (particularly visible during the and subjective well-being, as well as policy COVID-19 pandemic, as more of this work solutions to all of these, in ways that Kalle- has been pushed back into the home), while berg’s analysis only hints at. in other countries, it has been handled more Connecting the current increase in precar- collectively by the state. Collective social ity with historical patterns of precarity sug- reproduction is consistent with a reduction gests changes in policy priorities. If both the in precarity, regardless of employer behavior. state and employers view certain workers as Political economists of the welfare state ‘‘extra’’ workers who do not need to earn have increasingly emphasized work-family enough to support their families, this may policies because there is an oncoming crisis lead to employers characterizing all workers due to lower fertility rates: if there are as ‘‘extra’’ workers. When wages no longer too few workers paying into the system, support families, workers are expected to the welfare state cannot provide benefits rely on their family members to ‘‘make (Esping-Andersen, Gallie, Hemerijck, and up’’ the difference between a living wage Myles 2002). Policies like universal childcare and the actual wage. In these cases, state benefit all workers, but particularly the most employment protections wither as families vulnerable groups; state-provided leaves, are tasked to solve the problems caused by including ones that push both fathers and the capitalist search for increasing profit mothers to care for children, can help solve margins and government support for pri- some of the challenges of social reproduc- vate profit over public good. tion and increase fertility. The solutions to these challenges clearly lie Education, training, and skill develop- in a stronger safety net, greater access to edu- ment also need to be carefully targeted to cation and training, and more robust employ- ensure that everyone can access routes to ment protections. Yet the design of these better jobs. Men who are in vocational train- programs must be organized inclusively to ing are more likely to end up in better- ensure that women, immigrants, and racial paying jobs, but vocational training for and ethnic minorities also benefit. Kalleberg women tends to lead to low-paying jobs focuses on health insurance, retirement bene- such as childcare and other devalued and fits, and unemployment insurance, as well as unprotected social reproduction work. At the possibility of universal basic income. In the same time, immigrants and racial-ethnic the United States, many of these systems minorities need to access similar opportuni- have been organized to exclude certain groups. ties for education and training; whites Designing inclusive social insurance programs remain overrepresented in career and tech- is critical to creating a just, secure society. nical education training in the United States As Kalleberg notes, retirement and unem- (Center for Education Statistics 2019), while ployment have often been treated in a dualis- migrants are also underrepresented in voca- tic fashion, with only some workers benefit- tional training in Germany and other Euro- ing. For example, care workers might be pean countries (Schuler 2018). Flexicurity paid under the table—losing pension contri- systems, as in Denmark, also need to be alert butions and unemployment protections. Yet in how their design provides opportunities there are solutions, such as employers pay- to women and migrants. ing workers with vouchers, with the state Finally, while greater labor protections are taking out the appropriate contributions. undoubtedly necessary, it is critical to Paying attention to who is excluded from address how the move for labor protection existing programs may help design new has often come through labor movements programs that more effectively provide sup- that have privileged protecting dominant port to a diverse array of workers. groups, including white men (Clawson The safety net also needs to include work- 2003). Labor protections must be broad family policies that provide support to and universal; U.S. employment law and working parents and other social programs regulation regarding temporary and part- aimed at addressing support for social time work are as bad as they are in part reproduction. In some countries, like the because of the focus on greater protections United States, social reproduction has been for full-time workers.

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Kalleberg’s book makes important contri- Dataverse, V2. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ butions to understanding the political econ- 4JQRCL. omy of precarious jobs. It also creates new Esping-Andersen, Gøsta, Duncan Gallie, Anton Hemerijck, and John Myles. 2002. Why opportunities for researchers who center We Need a New Welfare State. New York: Oxford their work around gender, race/ethnicity, University Press. and migration to build on the important National Center for Education Statistics. 2019. Sta- foundation that he has laid. tus and Trends in the Education of Racial and Eth- nic Groups 2018. NCES 2019-38. Polanyi, Karl. 1944. The Great Transformation: The References Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Bos- ton: Beacon Press. Clawson, Dan. 2003. The Next Upsurge: Labor and Schuller, Karin. ‘‘Ethnic Inequality in Vocational the New Social Movements. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Education: The Impact of Educational Policy University Press. and Contextual Factors in Germany’s Federal Drazanova, Lenka. 2019. ‘‘Historical Index of Eth- States.’’ International Journal of Sociology 48(3): nic Fractionalization Dataset (HIEF).’’ Harvard 251–73.

Living Just in Time: Reflections on Arne L. Kalleberg, Precarious Lives: Job Insecurity and Well-Being in Rich Democracies

WALTER W. POWELL Stanford University [email protected]

Precarious Lives has many strengths. The One, I would have liked to have seen book is impressive in scale and ambition. more of an organizational emphasis. Kalle- Arne Kalleberg makes an exceptional effort berg repeatedly observes that the post- to define and conceptualize precarious, World War II Fordist consensus was a golden nonstandard, irregular work and analyze era for only a minority of the labor force— its prevalence and divergent consequences white men working for large organizations. in six rich industrial democracies. Precarity But he doesn’t mention the boring conformi- isn’t a thing in itself, Kalleberg argues, ty of that era. Arne and I are from the same but a pattern of employment that takes generation, and surely he recoiled as much shape differently depending on government as I did at the thought of spending one’s social welfare systems and employers’ labor entire life working for the same company. relations policies. Moreover, the volume is The security we reminisce about today felt sophisticated in its theoretical breadth, like prison with golden handcuffs back in reaching from canonical varieties of capital- the 1960s. This Fordist system was poised ism and power resources theories to financi- for overthrow. Piore and Sabel (1984) in their alization arguments to ideas about liquid Second Industrial Divide showed how flexible modernity. In addition, Kalleberg is acutely specialization outflanked mass production, aware that the biggest consequence of and Ben Harrison (1994) in his Lean and precarious labor is that workers bear the Mean analyzed how decentralized compa- risks, as opposed to employers and govern- nies undercut slow moving behemoths. ments. This privatization of risk has, as he Labor historian Louis Hyman (2018) in his shows in an excellent Chapter Seven, dire recent book Temp emphasizes how the risk- consequences for the subjective sense of averse, loyal company man was ripe for well-being for individuals and their families. picking. He focuses on two organizations, But this is a book symposium, and I am sup- Manpower, the temporary staffing agency, posed to be here for provocation, not praise. and McKinsey, the global consulting firm. Let me turn to limitations, or perhaps better Manpower brought the outsourcing of per- to say different emphases that I wish Kalle- sonnel to American corporations in the berg had pursued. 1970s and made it easy and legible. There

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