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Abstract In recent years, the term precarity has proliferated in the social sciences at the risk of losing its analytical purchase. This review considers the value and limitations of precarity in the various ways it has operated as both a theoretical and political concept. It first traces the historical development of the term in sociology and cognate fields, ultimately arguing for a relational approach to the concept rooted in the analysis of specific labor conditions. It then examines emergent critiques of the (often hidden) political work that the concept of precarity performs. That is, the denunciatory discourse of precarity, ironically, has the potential to uphold normative forms of work and life, including the ideal of full‐time wage labor. Instead, a critical politics of precarity leaves open the question of how precarious labor relates to precarious life and attends to ruptures that offer alternatives to the valorization of waged work.
Kathleen M. Millar (Thu,) studied this question.