1: Theory, Concepts and EU Context

Precarity has occupied the theoretical and empirical studies of various social science fields (sociology, geography, industrial relations, labour economics) in recent years, mainly because it offers a plasticity and breadth that is supposedly lacking from other concepts used to grasp the increasing uncertainty experienced by many people in late capitalism. The initial use of the term by prominent sociological analyses (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1991) denoted an attempt to conceptualise the deterioration of working conditions and the widespread feelings of insecurity endured by a growing number of people due to the dissolution of post-war relatively stable employment patterns. Initially, the term was used to theorise the insecurities felt by those at the bottom of the labour market and wage distribution including part-time, low-skilled and temporary staff. This conceptualisation has been expanded in recent years, however, mainly due to the realisation by many scholars that insecurity is not a state of affair affecting only workers on the lower end of labour markets or employed on certain contracts (Kalleberg & Vallas, 2017). For this reason, many studies of precarious employment deal with diverse employment situations, ranging from non-standard employment contracts to standard low pay jobs with limited prospects and high uncertainty in terms of job security, working time and income. In that sense, one person does not have to fall into all the different variables of precarity to be categorised as precarious (Campbell & Burgess, 2018).