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IntroductionAuthor(s): Italian Core GroupSource: Feminist
Review, No. 87, Italian Feminisms (2007), pp. 3-4Published by:
Palgrave Macmillan JournalsStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30140796 .
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7/29/2019 Feminist Review 87.Core Group.italian
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87 introductionThis ssuerepresentsne ofthefirst ffortso presento
an internationalaudience hepoliticalndcultural racticeselated o
precariousness'hathaveunfoldedncontemporarytaly.In order o explain
hepolitical xperienceshat havedeveloped ver
heissueofprecarietdnalternativeoliticalndculturalublic
pheres,nthisSpecial ssueprecaritys addressed iathefollowingey
opics:
enderndsexuality;work;narration,migration,ransculturation;eminismnddiaspora.Here,
verydayife ndpoliticsmeet,while iographyndhistorycrosspaths, o
constituten importantaboratoryor
ontemporaryolitics,whicheferencesendered,eminist,nti-capitalistndanti-racistoints
fview.As a group f individualsnvolvedn bothpoliticalpractices
ndacademicwork, urparticipationn militantnd collective ractices
rereflectedere. nthecreation f this pecial ssueof Feministeview
romItaly,wedecided o follow methodologykin o focusgroups'
atheringsinordero allow greater iversityf voices o emerge.
heparticipantsftheItalianeditorial roup' rganized
ne-daymeetingsndifferenttaliancities oenable
discussionfprecariousnesshrough range f
opicswithdifferentlyonstitutedndividualsndgroups.his sperhapsmost
videntnthecontributionsy ach of thefour roupsntheOpen pacesection.
hefirst ocusgroupheld in Bolognaconsidered he topic of gender
ndsexuality,while the second, in Milan,addressed issues of work
ndprecariousnessnd the thirdne, inNaples, ocused n
women'smigrationand precariousness.wingo changing olitical
onstituencies,he lastsession hanged rom eing
fourthocusgroupnFlorenceo an interviewwithMercedesFrias and
FrancescaMoccagatta,experienced oliticalactivistsfrom Punto di
Partenza',whoseobservationseflect n theinterconnectionsetween
iaspora, acismnd transformationsnwomen'spolitics.n ll
thecontributions,recariousnessmergess a mobileonceptreshaped
yvaryingenerational,ocial and racial'experiences.In
recentyears,precarietd as becomea battlefieldn
whichmultiplesubjects ndforces,deas andpractices averespondedo
transformationsinproductionnd labour. he talian erm recarietdasbeen
ranslatednseveralways: precarity,recariousness,recarie. n the first
nstance,precarietd as beenused in Italian o index tsetymology,rom
he Latinprecor-preaeceto pray. he erm mphasizes ow
omeonenprecariousconditions ends to resort o prayer. recarious, sed
as an adjective,indicates lack of securitynd stabilityhat
threatens,nd producesdanger.A precarious orkers somebody
erforminglexible ork. t also
feminist review 87 2007 3(3-4) Q 2007
FeministReview.0141-7789/07 $30 www.feminist-review.com
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7/29/2019 Feminist Review 87.Core Group.italian
Feminisms.2007
3/3
indicates omeoneemployed emporarily, ostlyn informationr
servicesectors,withnon-standard ork ontracts nd schedules
withoutocialsecurityr benefits.n the English-speakingorld, uch a
definition ouldcorrespondo the notion ftemporaryorkerr a
flexibleworkerdefinitionadaptedfrom lexFoti's ontributiono
Greeneppermagazine, 004:18)Asa conceptprecariousness'as beenusedto
both egitimizes well s opposethe deregulation f
capital-labourrelations.
Domesticeconomicpoliciesunderlyingrecarityre part of
widerprocessesof 'modernization'nd'europeanization'.upportersnd
opponents f 'precariousness'eemto bedivided along a clear line:
neoliberal modernizers'including iberals,democrats,ocialists nd
conservatives)it on one side, and trade unionistsand communistsn
theother. nthe cademic ield, achdisciplineas
focusedondifferentacetsof precariousness'.hesehave ncluded heimpact
fthenew rganizationflabour n
individualsndconsequentamilytrategies,swell s changingotions
fself-perceptionnd processes f individualization.Wehave decidedto
expand ur focusfrom he institutionalerraino wideralternative
arrativesndpracticesfworkingithinndagainst hecategoryon
thebasisofvaried xperiencesfprecarieta'.Grassrootsctivism herefore
as transformedrecarietdrom eing, n themain, n economic ategory
ddressing ewforms f occupation nd labourrelations,o a more pen
nstrumentf struggle,nabling esistance nd
there-imaginationfcontemporaryolitics,ives
ndsubjectivities,nquitenovelways.Thesereformulationsre at the core
of thedebates we presentnthisSpecial Issue of Feminist eview,s
theycorrespondo significantoliticalchanges t the national nd
internationalevel.Thus, s elaborated n thisSpecial
ssue,precariousnessmergess a field ftensions, sitethatregistersthe
exerciseof power, esistance nd appropriation,n which
nstitutionalsubjects s well s activistsfrom elow'weigh
pthepossibilitiesordifferentpracticesnd imaginativections. t is an
openandongoingxperience hichincludesontradictions'new'and old'),
fragmentationndre-composition,swell s localandglobal
ntersections.The mergencef his ssue nd ts hape sverymuchinked o our
wn ctivismand academicpositionings.heseactivities ffer
ossibilitiesorre-thinkinglifestyles,obsandformsf truggle,nd for
e-negotiatingrecarietdccordingto theneeds,desires
ndagendasofradical ubjectivitiesntime ndspace.
Italiancoregroupdoi: 0.1057/palgrave.fr.400366
4 feminist review 87 2007 introduction
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