Austerity politics and labour reforms in Spain have intensified the precaritization of employment, both inside and outside academia. Drawing on the cases of two highly educated young women, this paper suggests an analysis of academic precarity that focuses on the intertwining of the academic and the non-academic world of work in (re)producing precarity. In Spain, a less precarious alternative to precarity in academia is often nonexistent, putting young academics in a situation of blackmail to accept precarious conditions. Consequently, precarity is increasingly normalised. Yet, the process of the normalisation of precarity is understood not only as the growth of precarious jobs and the lack of alternatives, but, more fundamentally, as a shift in the perception of what can be legitimately claimed or expected within employment relations more generally.

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In May 2017, Veena Das joined the second edition of «Anthro-pology Talks» at the University of Bern. Every two years, the Institute of Social Anthropology invites leading social and cultural anthropologists to discuss their recent work. After a series of lectures and workshops, the event concludes with an interview about the visiting scholar’s work and their thoughts on the future of our discipline.