Just published with VERSO, London
Isabell Lorey
State of Insecurity: Government of the Precarious
Translated by Aileen Derieg
Foreword by Judith Butler
Years of remodelling the welfare state and the growing power of
neoliberal government apparatuses have established a society of the
precarious. In this new reality, productivity is no longer just a matter
of labour, but affects the formation of the self, blurring the division
between personal and professional lives. Encouraged to believe
ourselves flexible and autonomous, we experience a creeping isolation
that has both social and political impacts, and serves the purposes of
capital accumulation and social control.
In State of Insecurity,
Isabell Lorey develops a multi-dimensional political theory of
precarisation. Against this background she explores the possibilities
for organization and resistance under the contemporary status quo, and
anticipates the emergence of a new and disobedient self-government of
the precarious.
148 pages, ISBN: 9781781685969
£7,99 __ €9,50 __ $9,70
“The important contribution of this thoughtful work is to let us
understand finally that precarity is not a passing or episodic
condition, but a new form of regulation that distinguishes this
historical time.”
– – – Judith Butler, from the foreword
Isabell Lorey is member of the eipcp and co-editor of the book series transversal texts.