Epikhina Y. The scale and dynamics of employment precarity in Russian society from 1998 to 2015 In: Nikula, J. (Ed.), Chernysh, M. (Ed.). (2020). Social Distinctions in Contemporary Russia. London: Routledge. P. 65-83.

Abstract

The article explores various strategies in the analysis of precarious employment and precarization. The author analyses how precarity and precarization are tackled in the sociology of work, class analysis (the Marxist and the Weberian traditions) and in various modern fusion schemas. The article emphasizes the basic weakness of the precarity studies which consists in the lack of agreement over the indicators that define precarity. Methodological disarray leads to tangible differences in empirically obtained results. The article uses the data of the study Social structure of modern Russian society held in 1998, 2007 and 2015 to illustrate changes in precarity in Russian society. It concludes that precarity can hardly be used as a definitive feature of social class. Nor is it a reliable way to define the meandering of career fortunes or stages in the life cycle. The article provides a new perspective for studying of precarity as a social condition of marginality that point to critical weaknesses in economic and social development.

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Content (in russ)