The core contextual backdrop that frames this project is the radical and ongoing recomposition of the broad working class, both globally and within South Africa.

A central part of that recomposition has, over the last 20-30 years in particular, consisted of a major shift from a mainly permanent and largely industrial working class base to one where a majority of workers in the private sector, and a growing portion of those in the public sector, are now casualised and where large-scale/heavy industry no longer dominates the working landscape.