Internationally, whilst interpreted and labelled differently across national and trans-national contexts, the enthusiastic policy embrace of lifelong learning continues unabated. There is a significant imperative for citizens to demonstrate their commitment to, and engagement in, learning and self-development (see Gerrard, 2015). In recent years, concepts such as ‘educationalisation’ and ‘learnification’ have attempted to describe and understand the proliferation of the practices of education and learning across the life-course and social world (see Biesta, 2009; Simons & Masschelein, 2008).  Certainly, the capacity to learn and to transform ourselves is at the core of contemporary citizenship practices.

Connected to this is an underpinning presumption that learning and education assists in life transitions, and ultimately social mobility. Here, learning and education are explicitly connected to work and employment: lifelong learning is, as Basil Bernstein noted (2001), the way in which the need to flexibly develop necessary (and constantly shifting) labour market skills and knowledge is mobilised. There is, therefore, a kind of ‘learning ethic’ operating in similar fashion to contemporary expression of the ‘work ethic’, in that ‘to learn’ is largely taken-for-granted as a moral foundation of modern citizenship (Gerrard, 2014).

This paper examines the effects of this imperative to learn and to develop on those experiencing profound inequality and poverty attempting entry into the labour market. To do so, it takes as its focus one of the most significant emerging field of practice surrounding marginalised populations: the social enterprise sector. A number of educational researchers have noted the importance of this growing field of practice, which attempts to bring together social and public concerns with private models of practice (e.g. Ball, 2012; Kelly & Harrison, 2009). Social enterprise represents ones of the fastest growing (yet under-researched) sectors, having particular significance for marginalized and disadvantaged populations, who are most often the targets of social entrepreneurial ventures. In such ventures, learning and self-development are translated through the lens of entrepreneurialism and employability.

In this paper, I report on the emergent findings of a three-year qualitative research project on the experiences of learning and labouring of vendors of homeless street press. This research examines the interweaving practices of learning and labouring for those outside of the formal education and employment markets engaged in entrepreneurial labour. It focuses in particular on vendors of the social enterprise The Big Issue in Melbourne, with comparative data also collected in San Francisco and London. Established in 1991 The Big Issue is one of the first social enterprises globally, and is sold across the globe, from Australia to the UK, Japan and South Africa. Its apparent success has prompted the growth of homeless street press more generally, with similar ventures across Europe. It is based on the motto ‘a hand up, not a hand out’ and aims to provide an income stream for those otherwise excluded from the labour market.

This research has focused on developing insight into ways in which productive work is encouraged, provided, created and taught to men and women seeking basic entry into the labour market through the social enterprise, The Big Issue. Here, I present the emergent findings of this research. In particular, I outline how vendors understand and navigate the imperative to transition and become socially mobile whilst also managing long-term unemployment and poverty. Drawing on interview data with over sixty vendors, I suggest that the entrepreneurial labour provided by The Big Issue presents both opportunities and challenges for vendors: opportunities to engage in work at a time of scarce employment options, and challenges in the management of continued precariousness, poverty, and complex feelings of failure and stigma. 

Ball, S. J. 2012. Global Education Inc: New Policy Networks and the Neo-Liberal Imaginary. London & New York: Routledge. Bernstein, B., (2001), ‘From pedagogies to knowledges’, in Morais, A. Neves, I. Davies, B. and Daniels H. (eds.), Towards a Sociology of Pedagogy, New York: Peter Lang: 363–368. Biesta, G., (2009), ‘Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose of education’, Educational Assessment Evaluation and Accountability, 21: 33-46. Gerrard, J. (2015) The limits of learning: homelessness and educating the employable self. Discourse, 36:1, 69-80. Gerrard, J. (2014) All that is solid melts into work: self-work, the ‘learning ethic’ and the work ethic. The Sociological Review, 62: 862-879. Kelly, P. and Harrison, L. 2009. Working in Jamie’s Kitchen: Salvation, Passion and Young Workers. Bassingstoke, Hampshire & New York: Palgrave Macmillan Simons, M and Masschelein, J., (2008), ‘The governmentalization of learning and the assemblage of a learning apparatus’, Educational Theory, 58 (4), 391-415.