The Rise of Movements Against Precarity

The precarity movement, combines a cultural orientation with a keen sense of material deprivation, a will to reach out to other marginalised groups in society and an increased will to protest in public. This chapter explains this mixture of elements. It analyzes the relation between the desire for cultural expression and economic concerns in the precarity movement. The element of protest and confrontation in the movement is also discussed. While aiming for social change, its goal is also to empower individuals by resuscitating "life" here and now. The chapter presents an introduction to the Japanese precarity movement, focusing on the General Freeter Union in Tokyo and its attempt to forge a new, broad solidarity among the marginalised through the category of the "precariat".Keywords: General Freeter Union; global economic crisis; Japanese precarity movement; Tokyo