The Pedagogy of Precarity: Laboring to Learn in the New Economy

Thesis advisor: Juliet SchorThe relationship between learning and labor has long been a topic of concern for sociologists of education. In this dissertation, I conduct an ethnography of open learning in the United States following the 2008 economic crisis and argue that a new style of learning is emerging amidst changes in the labor market. I call that new style of learning the pedagogy of precarity and emphasize that it challenges credentialism (Collins, 1979), or how U.S. society confers status, jobs, and life chances according to one’s accumulation of academic qualifications. This study is the first sociological ethnography of open learning conducted from the vantage point of learners (Ito et al, 2009) and offers a perspective of how mostly digitally mediated learning practices are utilized within the growing precarity of the new economy. In this dissertation, I show how a sample of open learners sought a different way to connect their learning to their labor when neither felt valuable after the 2008 crisis and subsequent recession. Engaging literatures in the sociology of education, economic sociology, and cultural sociology, this dissertation expands upon the concept of the precariat (Standing, 2011; Gill and Pratt, 2008) in order to explain how “entrepreneurial vagueness” emerges from lived experiences of precariousness. Entrepreneurial vagueness works to buffer subjective status aspirations amidst dwindling objective life chances in the new economy (Bourdieu, 1984a; Sennett, 1998; 2006). In my study, precarity becomes pedagogized (Bernstein, 1996; 2001) and participants “labor to learn” rather than learn to labor. The pedagogy of precarity relies upon autodidactic communalism (Pearce, 1996), a model for learning that puts the burden of self-education on the individual and the community that she can access by successfully adopting a “habitus of trainability” (Bourdieu, 1984a; Bernstein, 1996; 2001). This burden is hard work, but is also described as enjoyable and life giving. The pedagogy of precarity instilled quasi-dignity as participants learned to embody the habitus of trainability. The habitus of trainability entailed developing a taste for usefulness, a taste for craftsmanship, and a taste for association. However, these tastes are not separate from a taste for risk (Neff, 2012; McMillan Cottom, 2017), and thus the pedagogy of precarity lacks sustainability. The findings are relevant to other studies of institutional challenge through peer-to-peer connection as well as work regarding the future of higher education in the new economy.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology

Interview with Juliet B. Schor, Lindsey B. Carfagna, and Robert Wengronowitz on Sustainable lifestyles and the quest for plenitude: Case studies of the new economy, by Juliet Schor and Craig J. Thompson

Many of today's most troubling environmental and economic issues have come to seem insoluble: carbon emissions, overshoot, inequality, joblessness, and a dysfunctional food system. Can we change direction, move away from business as usual, and achieve a more sustainable, empowering, and humane economy? Through a fascinating array of illuminating case studies, this hope-filled book affirms that we can. In locations across the United States and around the globe, local participants are forging their own versions of small-scale, low-footprint, high-satisfaction lifestyles and communities. From raw-milk consumers and members of alternative agricultural initiatives to time bankers, artisan producers in the Aude region of France, and bicycle mechanics on the South Side of Chicago, individuals and small groups are exploring the practice of plenitude. Their efforts demonstrate how social and economic transformation happens and suggest new paths toward larger-scale change and a richer quality of life for all.Title supplied by cataloger

After the gig: how the sharing economy got hijacked and how to win it back/ Juliet B. Schor ; and collaborators, William Attwood-Charles [and 6 others].

Includes bibliographical references and index."When the "sharing economy" launched a decade ago, proponents claimed that it would transform the experience of work-giving earners flexibility, autonomy, and a decent income. It was touted as a cure for social isolation and rampant ecological degradation. But this novel form of gig work soon sprouted a dark side: exploited Uber drivers, neighborhoods ruined by Airbnb, racial discrimination, and rising carbon emissions. Several of the most prominent platforms are now faced with existential crises as they prioritize growth over fairness and long-term viability. Nevertheless, the basic model-a peer-to-peer structure augmented by digital tech-holds the potential to meet its original promises. Based on nearly a decade of pioneering research, After the Gig dives into what went wrong along the way to this contemporary reimagining of labor. The book examines multiple types of data from thirteen cases to identify the unique features and potential of sharing platforms that prior research has failed to identify. Juliet B. Schor presents a compelling case that we can engineer a reboot: through regulatory reforms and cooperative platforms owned and controlled by users, an equitable and actual sharing economy is still possible"--Introduction : the problem of work -- From the cyber-culture to "we are the Uber of x" -- Earning on the platforms -- Shared, but unequal -- "The shared economy is a Lie" -- Swapping with snobs -- Coops and commons : toward a democratic sharing economy1 online resource (xvi, 285 pages