Precariousness, NEETs and Vocational Education and Training

Author(s):

James Avis(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 03 A, Researching VET for the Future

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B023 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Karen Evans

Contribution

For some time now young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are viewed by policy makers as a problem about which something should be done. This is not only a feature of European and western policy contexts but extends to the global south (African Economic Outlook, 2013; Eurofound, 2013). Whilst there is a certain fluidity in the way in which NEET is defined, in as much as its age span can flow from 16 – 18 (Furlong, 2007), with Fumagalli and Morini (undated) extending it in Italy to 29; there is nevertheless an international concern with workless youth and the consequence this may have for society. These young people's lack of employment is thought to pose difficulties for wider society in relation to social cohesion and inclusion. It is feared that they will become a 'lost generation' (Allen and Ainley, 2010).

The notion of NEETs has been exported from the European context to other societies for which it may not be suited. For example Kraak (2013) mobilises the term in the South African context and the African Economic Outlook suggests “The NEET category is made up of three distinct states of employment: unemployment; discouragement; and inactivity” (unnumbered).

Whilst we could discuss the re-composition of class relations and with it a re-formed reserve army of labour (Ainley, 2013), it might be more appropriate to reverse the logic. Rather than applying concepts developed in European and Western contexts to postcolonial situations, we could consider what we could learn from such social formations. Davis (2006) for example has discussed the surpluses of labour found in the megacities of the world which has resulted in the growth of the informal economy and often intense competition between workers, which has in turn led to further levels of ‘immiseration’. Such processes it could be claimed have been exacerbated by the policies of the IMF and World Bank which are informed by the tenets of neoliberalism, structural adjustment polices and the like. We can discern the play of not dissimilar policies in Europe. We could consider Greece, Spain and Italy where cuts in public expenditure have resulted in increased levels of unemployment, partly a consequence of EU policies informed by the tenets of neoliberalism. Beck for example discusses the Brazilianization of the West as a result of the ubiquity of temporary and insecure labour. Such arguments are echoed by Standing (2011) in his discussion of precariousness.

The paperdraws largely on English research, seeking to historicise the debate whilst acknowledging that these have a much wider purchase. They are a feature of not only the European but also global context with worries about workless youth having a resonance in many societies. The notion of NEETs rests alongside longstanding concerns of the English state and middle classes with unruly male working class youth as well as the moral turpitude of working class girls. Waged labour and domesticity are seen as a means to integrate such groups into society with schooling as well as vocational education and training playing a significant role in this process (Jones, 2012; Pearson, 1975, 1983; Skeggs, 1977). The paper places the NEETs debate within it socio-economic context and draws on theorisations of cognitive capitalism, Italian workerism, as well as emerging theories of antiwork to analyse such debates (Berardi, 2009; Boutang, 2011; Weeks, 2011). It aims to consider the usefulness of such theorisations when attached to youth and also to examine the questions these pose for the development of NEETs policy. In addition it is useful to explore the impact of these arguments on the provision of vocational education and training.

Method

The paper draws on four different bodies of literatures. It is important to recognise the definitional fluidity of the term NEET with respect to both inclusion criteria as well as age span. Thus those young people who are not in education, employment or training may face qualitatively different life chances, for example those who are a taking a year out prior to entering university as against those who are disaffected having left school with few if any qualifications. The policy literature draws out the manner in which NEETs is construed and the way in which policy can address this issue (Eurofound, 2013; Social Exclusion Unit 1999). For example Eurofound has analysed the literature on NEETs drawing out the policy intervention that have been designed to address this. Preventing early school-leaving Reintegrating early school-leavers Supporting school-to-work transitions Fostering employability of young people Removing barriers and offering employer incentives The above stance can be set alongside structural approaches that emphasise the impediments that young people face in the transition to waged labour. In addition this work suggests that the view that such young people lack commitment to waged labour is at best overstated if not misfounded (Simmons, et al, 2013; and see Shildrick, et al, 2012). These writers offers a corrective to studies that which pathologise young people and their culture (for a critique see, Finlayson, 2010; Preston, 2003). In order to contextualise these arguments it is necessary to draw on historical accounts as well as those that address the socio-economic context. In the case of the former the paper will draw on the English experience where there has been a longstanding tendency to pathologies sections of the working class and to use education and training to address these perceived inadequacies (Pearson, 1975, 1983; Purvis, 1987). Such tendencies remain in place as can be seen in English policy responses to NEETs. As far as the socio-economic context is concerned, arguments derived from discussions of cognitive capitalism will be mobilised. Such arguments raise important questions about the labour market in knowledge economies, the nature of capitalism and the manner in which surplus value is generated. In particular it raises questions about the contribution of labour that takes place outside the waged nexus in the creation of surplus value. This raises very particular issue concerning the conceptualisation of knowledge as well as the implications for the provision of vocational education and training.

Expected Outcomes

The paper seeks to contribute to contemporary debates on several levels. It aims to problematise the way in which policy constructs NEETs as a ‘problem’ and the resultant solutions. In part this will be accomplished by exploring the literature and setting it in its historical context. The specificities of the English situation will be examined whilst at the same time being attentive to the broader European and global contexts. This will enable an exploration of notions of ‘precariousness’ and the implications this carries for vocational education and training. The paper draws upon debates that examine features of contemporary capitalism and in particular arguments that address the ‘knowledge economy’. In order to do this it analyses the particular orientations of theorisations located within cognitive capitalism (Boutang, 2011) as well as notions of ‘antiwork’ (Weeks, 2011). The paper draws out the salience of such arguments for the provisions of VET. It is here that notions of social justice will be addressed as well as the manner in which VET is theorised. The distinctiveness of English VET will be set against that found in continental Europe. The paper concludes by arguing that allegedly radical approaches to NEETs that point towards inequities embedded in the social structure and that call for social democratic solutions veer towards a form of comfort radicalism. Such approaches leave in place the dominance of capitalist relations as well as ‘productivist’ orientations that celebrate waged labour. This will lead into a discussion of VET and the notion of ‘precariousness’. Following from the analysis of cognitive capitalism and ‘antiwork’, the significance of the notion of a ‘surplus population’ placed outside the labour market will be examined as well as the consequences of this for VET and social justice.

References

African Economic Outlook (2013), Who are the Unemployed, Discouraged & Inactive Youth in Africa? http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/in-depth/youth_employment/youth-in-african-labour-markets/who-are-the-unemployed-discouraged-inactive-youth-in-africa/ accessed 26 August 2013 Ainley, P. (2013) Education and the reconstitution of social class in England, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 18(1-2), p46-60 Allen,M., Ainley, P (2010) Lost Generation? New Strategies for Youth and Education, London, Continuum Beck, U. (2000) The brave new world of work, Cambridge, Polity Berardi, F. "Bifo" (2009) The soul at work, Los Angeles, Semiotext(e) Boutang, Y. M., (2011) Cognitive Capitalism, Cambridge, Polity Davis, M. (2006) Planet of Slums, London, Verso Eurofound (2013), NEETs – Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs and policy responses in Europe, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg Finlayson, A. (2010) The broken society versus the social recession, Soundings, No 44, p22-34 Fumagalli, A., Morini, C. (undated) The Precarity-Trap and Basic Income: the Labour Market in Cognitive Bio-capitalism. The Italian Case, Unpublished paper, http://www.bin-italia.org/pdf/Paper%20Fuma-Morini%20-%20eng%202.pdf accessed 4 January 2013 Furlong, A. (2007) The zone of precariety and discourses of vulnerability: NEET in the UK, Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, No. 381, pp. 101–121. Kraak, A. (2013) State failure in dealing with the NEET problem in South Africa, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 18(1-2), p77-97 Pearson, G. (1975) The Deviant Imagination, London, Macmillan Pearson, G. (1983) Hooligan: a History of Respectable fears, London, Macmillan Preston, J. (2003) White trash vocationalism? Formations of class and Race in an Essex further education college, Widening participation and lifelong learning, Vol 5, No 2, p6-17 Purvis, J. (1987) `Social class, education and ideals of femininity' in Arnot, M., and Weiner, G. (eds) Gender and the Politics of Schooling Open University Press. P253-275 Research in Post-Compulsory Education (2013) Special Issue: Reclaiming the Disengaged: Critical Perspectives on Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training, 18(1-2) Social Exclusion Unit (1999) Bridging the gap: New opportunities for 16–18 year-olds not in education, employment or training, London, Stationery Office Shildrick, T., MacDonald, R., Webster, C., Garthwaite, K. (2012) Poverty and Insecurity: Life in low-pay, No-pay Britain, Bristol, Policy Press Simmons, R., Russell, L. and Thompson, R. (2013) NEET young people and the Labour Market: voices from the margins, Discourse Power and Resistance Conference, 9th - 11th April 2013, London Standing, G. (2011) The Precariat: the new dangerous class, London, Bloomsbury Weeks, K. (2011) The problem with work, London, Duke University Press

Author Information

James Avis (presenting / submitting)

University of Huddersfield

SEPD

Huddersfield

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