Genesis and interpretation of the “precariat” concept in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe

Abstract

             The purpose of the article is to systematize a number of scientific works devoted to the conceptualization of the concept of the precariat, which received active theoretical elaboration at the beginning of the XX century. The relevance of the works devoted to the precariat is explained by the speeches of representatives of this social group in European countries at the beginning of the XXI century.

             One of the tasks of the article is to solve the “black box” G. Standing, which denoted the relationship of the newly formed social group with social processes outlined in the works of P. Bourdieu, J. Habermas and a number of other sociologists.

             The author also devotes a separate role to the analysis of the precariat by scientists in Western and Eastern Europe. Sociologists of Western Europe have focused on the designation of a newly formed social group in the socio-class structure of modern society.

             At the end of the article, the definition of two concepts, “precariat” and “precariatization”, which can contribute to the categorization of a social group in sociological theory, is given.