Theorising Youth Labour Market Experiences

This chapter develops a theoretical framework to analyse young men&s;s transitions from education to employment in post-industrial Glasgow and Liverpool. The framework draws on Beck&s;s Risk Society, Reith&s;s Age of Chance, Furlong et al.&s;s Zones of (in)security and Marx&s;s surplus labour theory as core tools to examine how labour market positions, class, structural conditions and individual agency shape youth transitions. Complementary concepts, including Berlant&s;s Cruel Optimism and Fraser&s;s justice framework, broaden the framework to capture emotional and normative dimensions. Auxiliary concepts, such as Foucault&s;s governmentality and Mbembe&s;s necropolitics, are also engaged in later chapters to interpret mechanisms of welfare surveillance, exclusion and social marginalisation. The framework situates youth labour market experiences within historical and structural contexts while linking these forces to individual perceptions, strategies and aspirations which provides a layered account that integrates structural, emotional and policy dimensions.