You don’t know: precarious methods and life in a workers' hostel.

Nielsen, Jacob A.E.

Abstract

People employed at sites of precarious work such as call centres or retail warehouses often live precarious lives. Drawing on ethnographic research in a London hostel for precarious workers, the book explores the political, analytical and practical limitations of using traditional methods of trying to make sense of life in these settings. Traditional methods are rooted in practices that emerge from privileged social positions and their enactment is deeply entangled with the processes that create these conditions in the first place. This book responds to this by experimenting with ‘precarious methods’ to enable greater agency to those placed in these precarious situations.

Citation

NIELSEN, J.A.E. 2025. You don't know: precarious methods and life in a workers' hostel. Oxford: Berghahn books [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3167/9781805398974

• Book Type: Monograph
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2025
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 1, 2027
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Series Title: EASA Series
• Series Number: 54
• ISBN: 9781805398974
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/9781805398974
• Keywords: Precarious workers; Call centres; Retail warehouses; Ethnographic research; Precarious situations; Theory and methodology; Sociology
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2836678
• Publisher URL: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/NielsenYou
• Additional Information: This excerpt is part of a larger work published by Berghahn Books available from: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/NielsenYou
• Genre: Ethnography of Precarity