Overview on a grounded précarité

Interview with Angela McRobbie

Abstract

In this interview with Angela McRobbie, the author, who is a specialist in creative labor, traces the path which led her to contribute introduce into cultural studies the elaborations – notably from France and Italy – of the notion of precariousness. This scientific and epistemological trajectory shows the importance of the international circulation of the notion of precariousness, but also the limits of notions that claim to be inclusive and may actually be situated. The author thus points to the trend, particularly in operaist approaches, of underestimating both the prominence and the lifespan of precariousness in the marginalized sectors of the labor market occupied for a long time by female and male migrants in many countries. She points to the importance of the feminist tradition and of postcolonial studies to question the multifaceted extent of precariousness beyond the standard representation of the white male worker.