The Anxiety of Precarity

doi:10.1017/9781108879170.012

12 - The Anxiety of Precarity

The United States in Comparative Perspective

from Part III - Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2021

Kathleen Thelen and

Andreas Wiedemann

Edited by

Frances McCall Rosenbluth and

Margaret Weir

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Frances McCall Rosenbluth: Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Margaret Weir: Affiliation:
Brown University, Rhode Island

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Summary

This chapter explores the dynamics of precarity and socioeconomic risk across the most advanced industrial countries. We situate the United States in a comparative framework to identify the characteristics it shares with other rich democracies as well as the distinctive dynamics of precarity in the American context. The United States stands out for the way it combines uncommonly high levels of individual-level exposure to various risks with low levels of collectively provided insurance to mitigate the impact of these risks. Moreover, we show that the institutions of the American political economy operate to compound risk, actively promoting what we call risk contagion, as misfortune in one arena spreads to foment misfortune in others.

Keywords

social risk precarity comparative political economy welfare state

Type: Chapter
Information: Who Gets What?
The New Politics of Insecurity
, pp. 281 - 306

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879170.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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12 - The Anxiety of Precarity

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