--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Precariousness and precarity are…" description: "\"“Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts. Lives are by definition precarious: they can be expunged at will or by accident; their persist..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27b/judith-butler-1374_death_precariousness-and-precarity-are-interse_1725030.jpg" --- # Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts… ![“Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts. Lives are by definition precarious: they can be expunged at will or by accident; their persistence is in no sense guaranteed” quote by Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27b/judith-butler-1374_death_precariousness-and-precarity-are-interse_1725030.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27b/judith-butler-1374_death_precariousness-and-precarity-are-interse_1725030.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27b/judith-butler-1374_death_precariousness-and-precarity-are-interse_1725030.jpg) > ““Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts. Lives are by definition precarious: they can be expunged at will or by accident; their persistence is in no sense guaranteed”” [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Precarity describes the inherent instability of lives that can be abruptly ended, highlighting intersecting vulnerabilities. **In simple terms:** Lives are unstable and can end suddenly. Key Takeaway Recognize and address systemic instability. Themes precarity vulnerability social justice Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - social work - activism Key Concepts structural inequality risk theory Questions to Reflect On - What policies can reduce precarious conditions? - How does precarity affect different communities? A Different Perspective Precarity can be abstract, making concrete action difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Precariousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precariousness/) ## Related quotes > [“In other words, they appeal to the state for protection, but the state is precisely that from which they require protection. To be protected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/in-other-words-they-appeal-to-the-state-for-protection-but-the-state/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Precarity designates that politically induced condition in which certain populations suffer from failing social and economic networks of support and become differentially exposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/precarity-designates-that-politically-induced-condition-in-which/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Precarity also characterizes that politically induced condition of maximized precariousness for populations exposed to arbitrary state violence who often have no other option than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/precarity-also-characterizes-that-politically-induced-condition-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“I argue that even as the war is framed in certain ways to control and heighten affect in relation to the differential grievability of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-argue-that-even-as-the-war-is-framed-in-certain-ways-to-control-and/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Without grievability, there is no life, or, rather, there is something living that is other than life. Instead, "there is a life that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/without-grievability-there-is-no-life-or-rather-there-is-something/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“We constantly lived in the paradox of precariousness. The money was never there when you needed it, and it was always on time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-boyle/we-constantly-lived-in-the-paradox-of-precariousness-the-money-was/) [Gregory Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-boyle/) > [Faith considers that its precariousness and its finiteness are but the womb in which it abides, moving toward the plenitude and fullness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-doherty/faith-considers-that-its-precariousness-and-its-finiteness-are-but/) [Catherine Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-doherty/) > [Precariousness is not just a working-class thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/precariousness-is-not-just-a-working-class-thing/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Any order is a balancing act of extreme precariousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/any-order-is-a-balancing-act-of-extreme-precariousness/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [There is fear of impoverishment as a narrowly based ideological government, infused with medieval religious rectitude, lays waste to the Egyptian economy, which, given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/there-is-fear-of-impoverishment-as-a-narrowly-based-ideological/) [Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/) > [“...studies show that in general, optimists die ten years earlier than pessimists." "I find that hard to believe" "Of course you do, you're an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susin-nielsen/studies-show-that-in-general-optimists-die-ten-years-earlier-than/) Susin Nielsen > [Only the sea, murmurous behind the dingy checkerboard of houses, told of the unrest, the precariousness, of all things in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/only-the-sea-murmurous-behind-the-dingy-checkerboard-of-houses-told/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I hope that audiences understand that there is a precariousness to black lives in this country that we need to address, that there has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yance-ford/i-hope-that-audiences-understand-that-there-is-a-precariousness-to/) [Yance Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yance-ford/) > [The Latin root of 'precariousness' is 'to obtain by prayer.' The precariat must ask for favours, for charity, to show obsequiousness, to plead with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-standing/the-latin-root-of-precariousness-is-to-obtain-by-prayer-the-precariat/) [Guy Standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-standing/) ## More by Judith Butler > [I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-don-t-think-we-have-to-have-a-personal-relation-to-a-life-lost-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [We need a legal and political understanding of the right of the refugee, whereby no solution for one group produces a new class of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-need-a-legal-and-political-understanding-of-the-right-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/when-we-say-gender-is-performed-we-usually-mean-that-we-ve-taken-on-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Cameras help to minimize collateral damage, and very often, without a camera a missile cannot fire. Certainly, without a camera a drone can't function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/cameras-help-to-minimize-collateral-damage-and-very-often-without-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I would say that I'm a feminist theorist before I'm a queer theorist or a gay and lesbian theorist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-would-say-that-i-m-a-feminist-theorist-before-i-m-a-queer-theorist/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Very often, if you just get the question: "Well, are you a Zionist?" if you say no, it's assumed that you want the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/very-often-if-you-just-get-the-question-well-are-you-a-zionist-if-you/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Sexual harassment law is very important. But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/sexual-harassment-law-is-very-important-but-i-think-it-would-be-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s-not-ok-to-decide-that-an/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Let's face it. We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something. 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People need to be grieved; loss needs to be acknowledged publicly, because it helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-that-public-grieving-is-a-good-thing-people-need-to-be/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Maybe we need to start with the rethinking of what is "west" and what is "non-west." It seems to me that there are any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/maybe-we-need-to-start-with-the-rethinking-of-what-is-west-and-what/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [It will not do to say that international law is the enemy of the Jewish people, since the Jewish people surely did not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-will-not-do-to-say-that-international-law-is-the-enemy-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) [Explore all 248 Judith Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. 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Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts. 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