This volume presents original theory and research on precarious work in various parts of the world, identifying its social, political and economic origins, its manifestations in the USA, Europe, Asia, and the Global South, and its consequences for personal and family life.

Introduction, Probing Precarious Work: Theory, Research, and Politics; Arne L. Kalleberg and Steven P. Vallas  Part One: Theory and Method  1. Precarious work, regime of competition and the case of Europe; Valeria Pulignano   2. Classification Struggles in Semi-Formal and Precarious Work: Lessons from Inmate Labor and Cultural Production; Michael Gibson-Light  3. Non-Standard Employment and Subjective Insecurity: How Can We Capture Job Precarity Using Survey Data?; Anna Kiersztyn  Part Two: Precarious Work in the United States  4. Bad Jobs in a Troubled Economy: The Impact of the Great Recession in America's Major Metropolitan Areas; Michael Wallace and Joonghyun Kwak  5. Hackathons as Co-optation Ritual: Socializing Workers and Institutionalizing Innovation in the New Economy; Sharon Zukin and Max Papadantonakis  6. A Racial-Gender Lens on Precarious Employment; Enobong Hannah Branch and Caroline Hanley   7. The Gender of Layoffs in the Oil and Gas Industry; Christine L. Williams  Part Three: International Perspectives on Precarious Work  8. The Rise of Precarious Employment in Germany; David Brady and Thomas Biegert  9. Precarious Work in Europe: Assessing Cross-National Differences and Institutional Determinants of Work Precarity in 32 European Countries; Quan D. Mai  10. Informal Employment in the Global South: Globalisation, Production Relations and 'Precarity'; Michael Rogan, Sally Roever, Martha Alter Chen, and Françoise Carre   11. Determinants of Participation in Precarious Work in India: An Empirical Analysis; Rahul Suresh Sapkal and K.R. Shyam Sundar  Part Four: The Consequences of Precarious Work  12. Precarious Early Careers: Instability and Timing within Labor Market Entry; Dirk Witteveen  13. "Bad Jobs" for Marriage: Job Quality and the Transition to First Marriage; Sojung Lim  14. 'You Don't Dare Plan Much': Contract work and Personal Life for International Early-Career Professionals; Aliya Hamid Rao

Researchers working in sociology, public policy, and other areas in the US, Europe, South Africa, and India present 15 essays on work that is uncertain, unstable, and insecure, and in which employees bear the risks of and receive limited social benefits and statutory protections. They address precarious work and the regime of competition in Europe; classification struggles in semi-formal and precarious work in inmate labor and a local independent culture industry; the conceptualization and measurement of job precarity; precarious work in the US, including the impact of the Great Recession, hackathons, and the role of race, gender, and educational attainment; international perspectives from Germany, Europe, the global south, and India; and the consequences of precarious work for early careers, the transition to marriage, and contract workers.