Precarious Enterprise on the Margins: Work, Poverty, and Homelessness in the City

Description

This book explores the contemporary conditions of marginal work within the context of persistent unemployment, poverty, and homelessness in wealthy nations. Drawing from research concerning three cities—Melbourne, San Francisco, and London—Jessica Gerrard offers a rich account of one of the most precarious informal forms of work: selling homeless street press (The Big Issue and Street Sheet). Combining analyses of sellers’ everyday work experiences with theorizations of marginality, working, and learning, Gerrard provides much-needed insight into contemporary forms of entrepreneurial and precarious work. This book demonstrates that those who are unemployed and seemingly unproductive are, in fact, highly productive. They value, desire, and seek practical work experience whilst also struggling to fulfill the basic needs that many of us take for granted. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction: Work, Poverty and Capitalism (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 1-26 Marginality Reconsidered (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 27-52 Homeless Street Press: Historical and Contemporary Connections (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 53-78 Time Is Money (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 79-105 Being Productive: Working, Not Begging (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 107-129 Learning to Entrepreneurially Labour (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 131-152 Working in Public: Value, Exchange and Performance (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 153-177 Moving On?: Aspirations, Pathways and Stasis (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 179-201 Epilogue: Enterprise on the Margins (Jessica Gerrard)....Pages 203-206 Back Matter ....Pages 207-214