In this paper I use three concepts – the hedging of risk, the transfer of risk and recommodification – to examine recent changes in the distribution of market risk. Mechanisms that formerly hedged risk – such as the welfare state and the nuclear family – have declined in effectiveness and popularity and the result has been the recommodification of individuals and their life chances. These themes are illustrated by an examination of change in the nature of employment relationships and its likely impact on the service class. The future of the service class remains linked to the informational asymmetry problem that underlies the service relationship, and this limits the degree to which employers can claim an option over the labour supply of service class workers. The paper ends by discussing some more general issues in the relationship between risk, stratification and recommodification.
