This article discusses the social, economic, and political factors that led to the rise and consolidation of precarious work in various countries in Asia. We first define what we mean by “precarious work” and its utility for describing the growth of work that is uncertain and insecure and in which risks are shifted from employers to workers. We then provide an overview of the factors that generated precarious work in industrial nations, notably the spread of neoliberalism as a political and economic perspective, the expansion of global competition, and technological development. These macro structural influences created an impetus for greater flexibility among both states and employers, which in turn led to more precarious work in both formal and informal sectors of the economies of many Asian countries. This, in turn, has provoked various types of resistance on the part of workers against the negative consequences of precarious work.

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This article briefly recapitulates the social, economic, and political factors that led to the rise and consolidation of precarious work in various countries in Asia and the definition of "precarious work." The article then considers the utility of precarious work for describing the growth of work that is uncertain and insecure and in which risks are shifted from employers to workers for several countries in South and Southeast Asia, namely, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and India.

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Chapter 6 discusses labor politics in Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia. The emphasis is on responses by labor, civil society, and governments to precarious work, inequality, and poverty. In Japan the political dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party and a union focus on regular workers has made it difficult for unions to press for labor laws and social protections that better support nonregular workers. Civil society activism regarding workers has been limited. Greater competition among political parties in South Korea has enabled unions and civil society organizations to ally themselves with unions and some political parties to push for labor reforms. In Indonesia organized labor, sometimes working with civil society organizations, made some important gains through democratization after 1998. Labor also pushed for the expansion of welfare but has been weakened in recent years and has become ineffectual in pressuring governments.