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Precarious bodies: occupational risk assemblages in Bolivia and Trinidad

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Version 2 2023-06-12, 08:46
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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 08:46 authored by Rebecca PrenticeRebecca Prentice, Mei TruebaMei Trueba
This article develops a concept of “precarious bodies” to theorise the lived experience of labour precariousness in the 21st century and its implications for workers’ health, wellbeing and household reproduction. Drawing on ethnographic research with Bolivian miners and Trinidadian garment workers, we explore the relationship between workers’ exposure to global market forces and their everyday experiences of work, health and risk in these industries. “Precarious bodies” is a heuristic that takes into a single frame the macro-level economic and regulatory processes that create risks for workers, and the various ways in which workers negotiate these risks through their work practices and livelihood choices. We show precarious bodies to be both vulnerable and strategic. Positioned in situations of exploitation and risk, their choices to protect their livelihoods can harm their health and reinforce—rather than counteract—the precarious circumstances of their households.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Global Labour Journal

ISSN

1918-6711

Publisher

McMaster University

Issue

1

Volume

9

Page range

41-56

Department affiliated with

  • Global Health and Infection Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-12-14

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-02-01

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-12-14

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