This paper is based on a recent research project (2010-11) examining the barriers to and benefits of vocational education for refugee groups.  The project was commissioned by CEDEFOP (the Centre Europeen pour le Developpement de la Formation Professionnelle), the European Agency funded by the European Commission to promote the development of vocational education and training (VET) in the European Union. Refugees as a group were identified because at present there is little research on their vocational education and training needs. 

VET, referred to as Lifelong Learning (LLL) in some European countries, has many possible benefits.  These include the potential for improved social inclusion and social cohesion (Preston & Green, 2008), and the potential for creating more democratic and engaged citizens (Mojab, 2006). However, it has been argued that VET also needs to be considered in the wider economic context of globalisation, “new capitalism” (Sennett, 2006) and neoliberal styles of governance, where VET agendas need to be responsive to the changing market (Mojab, 2006). In this context, it is argued that the concept of LLL is key to the discourse that it is lack of skill which causes unemployment – shifting the burden to the individual worker (Mojab, 2006) and deflecting attention from the need for economic and social reform (Coffield, 1999:489). Whilst there has been much research on VET in general across Europe, one area which remains under-researched in recent times is the way in which VET and LLL policies impact specifically on racial equality. It has been argued that historically, one of the purposes of VET in the US, was indeed social exclusion, in terms of dividing occupations along racial lines in order to protect white privilege (Penn, 1998; Roediger, 1991).  As refugees to Europe tend to be non-white, racial aspects were considered extremely important in this piece of research.

The key research questions in the project included:

·         What are the barriers to participation in vocational education and training for refugees?

·         What are the community benefits of participation in vocational education and training for this group?

This paper employs a Marxist feminist theoretical and epistemological framework based on the work of Hill (2002), Mojab (2006), Mojab, Carpenter & Colley (2010), in order to ‘explain constraints on LLL policy and its democratic aspirations’ (Mojab, 2006:3). This framework foregrounds the intersectionality of race, gender and capital: education is regarded as integral to the capitalist agenda; neoliberalism requires a compliant and technically skilled workforce; and racism as integral to capitalism.

The paper also refers to the work of Judith Butler (2004), who argues that some lives are viewed as more viable than others, with the lives of refugees, particularly those who are non-white, are positioned as unviable.

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