Introduction: skill, labour, and precarity

Cristina Grasseni

A chapter in Elgar Encyclopedia of Economic Anthropology, 2025, pp 284-285 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The following entries explore diverse performances and notions of skill against the backdrop of local and global economies. Ethnographic narratives from Brazil, Poland, Mongolia, Trinidad, China, and the US setthe stage for various forms of precarious labour. From the ‘affective labour’ developed in post-socialist societies, to reflections connecting new labour struggles with class and skill in North America, these entries contextualise precariousness and reconceptualise precarity through the workings of creativity, resistance, and thriftiness. Covering contemporary ethnographic grounds that seldom appear in global economic analyses – such as poets working in China's ‘black factories’, garment workers ‘thiefing a chance’ of upgrading their skills in Trinidad (Prentice, 2015), and Brazil's street-youth as intrinsic actors to global economic networks, these authors delve into the interconnectedness of formal and informal economies in late capitalism.

Keywords: Street gangs; Kinship; Post-socialism; Skill; Work; Poetry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035312566
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