Prekarität im Gespräch

This article examines conversations in organizations for homeless assis­tance in Germany in which social workers discuss precarious living situations with their clients. The analyses show that (most of) the conversations about such precarious social situations are precarious themselves. Precarious social situations and precarious conver­sations are comparable: In each case, precarity is understood as a constel­lation in which two contradictory reference orientations apply simultaneously (socially constructed normality and clients’ actual normality). Precarity in conver­sations results from the participants communicatively establishing diffe­rent reference points for normality. Findings are that coping strategies for precarious situations can also be observed as communicative strategies in conver­sations. However, the same clients show diffe­rent strategies to deal with either social or communicative precarity. In general, such research helps improve our understanding of precarity and its effects on social (inter)action.