Date: Saturday, August 9

Time: 2:30 PM - 4:10 PM

Session 056: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: Precarity, Contingency, and Non-Standard Relations of Labor
Room: Wilson Room

Sponsor: Labor Studies

Organizers: Seth Kahn, West Chester University
Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University

Presider/Discussant: Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University

Description: 

Six short discussion-starters in this session raise issues of precarious and/or contingent relations of labor across a variety of workplaces and locations. Presenters each describe a different problem emerging from a different non-standard employment situation. Taken together the presenters raise issues ranging from ambiguous understandings of professionalism to class construction in unemployment claims to consequences of remote work for workers, and more. Each presenter will speak for 6-7 minutes, with plenty of time for participants to draw and/or challenge connections.

Papers:

“Career Advising for Non-standard Employment,” Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University and Lauren M. Donovan, Delaware County Community College

“Checked Out: Coping and Cashiering in Retail Grocery Work,” Katherine L. Mott, Syracuse University

“Economic Precarity, Quality of Work Life, and Social Trust: An Empirical Study of the U.S. Workforce,” Waris Ahmad Faizi, Virginia Tech Graduate School

“Job Loss and Unemployment Relief in Precarious Times: The Foundational Role of Legal Status in Producing Inequality,” Ewa Protasiuk, Temple University, Winner of the Poverty, Class, and Inequality Division’s Student Paper Competition

“On Contingency and Professionalism in U.S. Higher Ed: Why So Many Calls to ‘Save the Profession’ Don’t Work and What Might Work Better,” Seth Kahn, West Chester University

“Stagnation Anxiety: The Hidden Costs of Security in a Culture of Enterprise,” Sejin Um, New York University

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