ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to offer different perspectives on the phenomenon as it gives rise to a variety of responses and interpretations that are shaped by the historical trajectories and geographical locations of the subjects affected by it. It explains an accent on subjectivity and how it intersects the ongoing transformation in the experiences and representations of those affected by precariousness. The book surveys international standpoints and a heterogeneous set of industries, economic sectors, political experiences, and regions characterised by different histories of labour relations, legislations and welfare provisions, that are also currently confronted with different economic pressures. The book includes analyses of their politics and practices of self-organisation. The term 'precariat" was first evocatively adopted in 2000 by various sections of the Italian. It provides the genealogy of the resistance to precariousness in social movements from Euro May Day to the present.
