1. The recession as the site of the exceptional: young people, self-determination and social mobility
- Author
-
Mikaela Luttrell-Rowland
- Subjects
Labour economics ,Sociology and Political Science ,Inequality ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,050301 education ,Social class ,Social mobility ,Recession ,0506 political science ,Education ,Individualism ,Globalization ,Political economy ,050602 political science & public administration ,Meritocracy ,Sociology ,0503 education ,Structural inequality ,media_common - Abstract
This paper examines the importance of ‘self-determination’ and ‘hard work’ found within interviews with a group of young people in Manchester, England. The author suggests that moments of apparent contradiction within the interviews have much to offer, particularly when analysed in relation to discussions of inequality and political economy. Data from this paper show that while the young people mostly spoke about work choices in primarily individualistic ways, they used the recession as a means to acknowledge that acquiring jobs simply cannot just be about ‘choice’ or working hard, but is also configured by the market and structural inequality.
- Published
- 2014