What does “prekariatet” mean in Swedish?
Humaniststudenten, prekariatet och jakten på ett anständigt liv
B2 Swedish listening practice · Standard Swedish · Picked for people who know more
Prekariatet (“the precariat”) is the Swedish word for a class of workers stuck in precarious, low-paid, insecure jobs. The term was popularized by British economist Guy Standing in the late 2000s and crossed into Swedish political vocabulary. In Sweden, it shows up in debates about humanities students, freelancers, and gig workers chasing ett anständigt liv (“a decent life”).
This clip plays the irony: a Swedish humanities student declares herself part of prekariatet while admitting she has fonder (mutual funds), a sailboat, and a wealthy father who owns a major company. Swedish comedy loves this kind of self-aware bourgeois lament.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Swedish opinion columns about the labor market (Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter)
- ▸In Swedish stand-up about humanities-student life (Aron Flam, Emma Knyckare)
- ▸In Swedish university lecture halls in sociology and political science
- ▸In Swedish public-service radio (P1 Konflikt, Studio Ett)
- ▸In Swedish satirical sketch shows (Svenska nyheter, Tankesmedjan)