The precariat, everyday life and objects of despair.

Abstract

The monetary subjugation of civil society by speculative capital has been linked to societal unrest and increased disparities in income between ‘the haves’ and the ‘have nots’ for millennia (Graeber, 2011; Hodgetts et al., 2014; Standing, 2011). Countries, including New Zealand and the United Kingdom, are experiencing an epoch of neoliberalism characterized by the coordination of economic and social life that is being shifted increasingly from the state to private interests. In line with the neoliberal worldview – cultivated by the political right over recent decades – almost all domains of life have been subordinated to market rationality and economic liberalization. Welfare and healthcare supports that were established to reduce, or at least buffer people against, the harshest consequences of poverty caused by social hierarchies and inequalities are being systematically dismantled (Hodgetts et al., 2014). Recently, increased austerity for the poor has exacerbated the dilemmas faced by families already living stressful and inadequately resourced lives, characterized by social exclusion and income, food and housing insecurities (Boon & Farnsworth, 2011; Green, 2012). Neoliberal politics of austerity are played out in the lives of socioeconomically vulnerable groups and have sparked renewed interest in concepts such as social class (Hodgetts & Griffin, 2015).