The Rise of the Precariat

It’s a new socio-economic class that has emerged around the world – and in the estimation of British economist and professor Guy Standing, it is arguably the most dangerous of them all.

The Precariat – a portmanteau of precarious and proletariat – is a social class that lives in precarity, which is to say without predictability or security. And in The Rise of the Precariat, an accomplished panel comprising economist Surjit Bhalla, public intellectual and Algebra member Pavan Varma, and farm economy expert Ajay Jakhar spoke to Shoma Chaudhury in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory, Mr Modi’s demonetisation and the radical signs of economic anxiety and social change sweeping through the world.

Going beyond the shock and awe of both events, they critiqued the implementation and possible outcomes of demonetisation; the impacts of globalisation; the rise of inequity and popular nationalism and suggested new ways to keep the “waterline of hope above the waterline of despair”.

Watch the full session above.