The Emergence of the Professional Precariat

In this chapter, the authors trace the emergence of the “Professional Precariat” and apply this conceptualization to a variety of elite managerial and professional careers. Here, the authors explore the meanings and experiences of peripheral work, contract work and contingency workers, the “gig” economy, and “flash organizations.” They draw their examples of precarious professionals from fields of medicine, academia and higher education, law and legal practice and from the STEM professions.