Precarious work: A critical review and a proposal for future research

This paper provides an interdisciplinary critical integrative review of research on precarious work. Based on a review of 311 records, we develop an integrated framework that brings together the antecedents, outcomes, and responses to precarious work found in the literature. We also explain the discrepancy between the ideas of key influential thinkers about the existence of political potential of precarity, and the lack of fieldwork evidence that would suggest that this potential is coming to fruition. We highlight that prevailing theorisations do not take appropriate account of the historico-cultural embeddedness, or the intersectional experiences, outcomes of, and responses to precarious work in different locations. We outline a pathway for future research, arguing for: 1) shifting the empirical focus of studies towards greater inclusion of members of currently under-represented geographical contexts, occupations and social groups, and towards appreciation of the different, context-specific forms, impacts, and responses to precarious work; 2) developing a nuanced understanding of the experiences and outcomes of precarious work as an intersectional phenomenon; 3) decolonising our thinking about precarious work through engagement in reflexivity about the assumptions underlying the extant knowledge. Finally, we put forward policy recommendations for addressing the prevalence and impacts of precarious work worldwide.