The generalization of precariousness: Work and classes in the contemporary capitalism

Abstract

This paper examines the hypothesis that the generalization of precariousness is the main characteristic of contemporary capitalism. It is understood that precariousness is the contemporary process of suffering of the relations and conditions of work. The text is divided into four parts. First, it is verified the global condition reached by work and class society nowadays. Next, it investigates how specialized, scientific and technological knowledge turns into a new central productive force and an ideology of contemporary capitalism at the same time. Then, the paper intends to show what the main social question of the globalized work society is and why it needs to be object of study. Lastly, we tried to synthesize how the phenomenon of the generalization of precariousness structures today. Thus, the article suggests a new approach of the relation between work and class as concepts and empirical realities of contemporary capitalism.