Mobilizing the precariat in Western Europe

Girardi, Elisabetta

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URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-673550
Dokumenttyp:	Dissertation
Erscheinungsjahr:	2024
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Mannheim
Hochschule:	Universität Mannheim
Gutachter:	Bräuninger, Thomas
Datum der mündl. Prüfung:	3 Juni 2024
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften > Political Science, Political Economy (Bräuninger 2009-)
Fachgebiet:	320 Politik
Freie Schlagwörter (Englisch):	precarity , labour market , political mobilization , political representation , interest awareness , political engagement
Abstract:	Is mobilizing precarious workers feasible and profitable for vote-maximizing parties? To answer this question, in this dissertation I investigate the mobilization potential of the precariat, which I theorize to be conditional on the interest awareness and propensity to political engagement of precarious workers. First, I provide an overview of the precarization of Western European labour markets and develop a probability-based operationalization of precarity that allows to capture labor market vulnerability beyond formal employment status. Second, I rely on survey data from 13 democracies and resort to Bayesian inference techniques to investigate whether precarious workers are aware of their interests and politically engaged. Finally, I investigate the impact of precarity on voting in the 2018 Italian election, when the Five Star Movement centered its electoral campaign around a policy directly benefiting precarious workers. I conclude by discussing the implications of the findings for the emergence of the precariat as a political actor.