Precarity in Different Worlds of Social Classes

Abstract

This chapter addresses social classes in contemporary Europe, with the specific goal of analysing what has been and what can be meant by the precariat and precarity in terms of class and how class analysis can contribute to actually understanding precariousness and precarization. This is done by analysing class positions from the point of view of reproduction of classes. By comparing different European class regimes, we examine whether reproduction of classes, and thereby reproduction of precariousness, follows similar or different patterns in selected European countries, including Russia. In particular, we compare Russia with the Nordic countries. In many ways, Russia is a critical case, which helps us to evaluate the relevance and range of the concept of precariat in class analysis.