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Young People, Work and Social Class

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Youth and Social Class

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Abstract

Historically, employment has featured significantly in how class has been theorised and understood in youth sociology. In contemporary debates about the changing nature of work for young people, the impact of these changes on different classes has been marginalised. While developments such as underemployment, unemployment and precariousness are real and significant, we suggest they must be analysed through a class lens. In this context, academic work inspired and influenced by Pierre Bourdieu can help illuminate both the dynamic and embedded nature of class relationships in young people’s experience of work.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_368626.pdf

  2. 2.

    See Hill (2013) for a discussion of why this was the case.

  3. 3.

    See Chapter 2 for related discussion of the New Zealand ‘Overseas Experience’ working holiday.

  4. 4.

    See http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf

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  1. School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Alan France

  2. Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Steven Roberts

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France, A., Roberts, S. (2017). Young People, Work and Social Class. In: Youth and Social Class. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57829-7_4

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