Guy Standing

Guy Standing is a prominent economist and social theorist best known for coining and developing the concept of the 'precariat'—a class of workers experiencing chronic economic insecurity due to precarious employment, inadequate social protection, and unstable income. Born in Kenya to British parents, he has held positions at major institutions including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the University of Bath, where he was Professor of Economic Security.

Standing's major works include *The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class* (2011) and *A Precariat Charter* (2014), which argue that traditional class categories no longer adequately describe modern labor markets. He advocates for universal basic income (UBI) as a policy response to precarity and has been influential in global debates on social protection, labor rights, and economic inequality.

His work bridges economics, sociology, and political theory, challenging neoliberal assumptions about labor flexibility and individual responsibility. Standing has been a vocal public intellectual, contributing to policy discussions at the UN, World Bank, and various governments on issues of economic security and social justice.

Born in Kenya to British parents, Guy Standing studied at Cambridge University and became a leading economist at the International Labour Organization before moving to academia. He is best known for developing the concept of the 'precariat' to describe economically insecure workers, a framework that has shaped contemporary debates on labor, inequality, and social protection. His advocacy for universal basic income and critique of neoliberal labor markets have made him a prominent public intellectual in policy and social theory.