Lunchtime seminar- Abundance and Scarcity: Precarity as an Affective Condition

You are cordially invited to attend an IBS lunchtime research seminar by Melissa Carr, Henley Business School. Please join us in Room 108, HBS or follow the link in your invite email to join the Microsoft Teams Meeting. If you have not received the email invite please email Jana Oslejova.

Please note: Lunch and refreshments will be provided. It is important that you confirm if you are attending in person to ensure enough catering is supplied on the day. If you have any dietary restrictions, please let us know as soon as possible.

Date: Wednesday 9th November 2022

Time: 13.00-14.00 pm

Title: Abundance and Scarcity: Precarity as an Affective Condition

Abstract

Precarity is commonly considered an economic condition of certain forms of employment. This article explores how women experience precarity in different organisational forms. Drawing on interviews conducted with women in a corporate bank and a network marketing organisation, the article shows how feelings of precarity are not related to economic conditions of work. Using Judith Butler’s work on precarity and specifically frames of apprehension, reveals that frames allow some versions of reality to be articulated while others are de-legitimised. Women at the bank were more likely to articulate feelings of precarity through a sense of scarcity of opportunities which created competition between women. Women at the network marketing organisation in contrast saw an abundance of opportunities for those who worked hard. Feeling precarious was instead reduced to an individual issue of a lack of self-belief. The article shows how precarity is contextual and frames allow what is knowable within the specific context.