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12 - The Anxiety of Precarity

The United States in Comparative Perspective

from Part III - Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2021

By
Kathleen Thelen  and
Andreas Wiedemann
Edited by
Frances McCall Rosenbluth  and
Margaret Weir
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 riskprecaritycomparative political economywelfare state
Type
Chapter
Information
Who Gets What?
The New Politics of Insecurity
 , pp. 281 - 306
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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