On November 23, 2024, Talking Precarity brought together a group of workers from various sectors in Toronto to explore the connections across their precarious labour conditions. Participants were asked to share something that represents an aspect of their past or present labour experiences to become part of a temporary “precarity archive.” The group was guided through a discussion and documentation process by lens based artist and scholar Zinnia Naqvi. This process included using the archival object as a launching pad for storytelling, audio recording, and photography.

In this episode, you will hear workshop participants tell the stories behind the precarity archive objects.

Together these stories provide an entrypoint for thinking about the connections between precarious workers: that means noticing how our lives are shaped by settler colonialism and racial capitalism, as well as how we recognize ourselves in each other’s stories. The participants in the “precarity archive” remind us that workers are joined not only by experiences of exploitation, but also by our creativity and solidarity.

Precarity archives participants: Alexandra Yeboah, Ananna Rafa, Chunlei Liu , Dinah Thorpe, Khiem Hoang, Shams Seif, Susanna, V, W, Zara Alvarez

Facilitation and Photography: Zinnia Naqvi

Photography Assistant: Ananna Rafa

Coordination: Zoë Newman and Vannina Sztainbok

Recording and Editing: Milena Rzepa Sztainbok

We would like to acknowledge support from OPIRG York and the York Global & Community Engagement Collaborative Project Fund that made the workshop and poster possible.

https://www.instagram.com/ananna

Report of the Independent Inquiry into Alleged Discrimination Against Dr. Kin-Yip Chun | CAUT

2025 Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts.

No Archive will Restore You

Features

Resources

Podcasts

Talking Precarity