Governing of young people ‘at risk’ with the alliance of employability and precariousness in the EU youth policy steering

Abstract

This article focuses on neoliberal governing by the European Union of cross-sectoral youth policies directed at young people ‘at risk’. The aim is to show how the alliance of discourses of employability and precariousness in these policies has emerged and how these discourses operate in policy. In the article, we analyse European Council and European Commission policy documents from 2000 to 2016 by drawing on the idea of discourses and governing with neoliberal political rationality. Our results show that the financial crisis and policy initiatives launched to mitigate its consequences made it possible to mainstream the neoliberal rationality of individual competition and flexibility as an inseparable part of youth policy steering.

Outreach youth work and employability in the ethos of vulnerability

“…Thus, 'at risk' is used in general as a label referring to young people deviating in one way or another; a normative way of being, acting and living. Often represented as statistical categorisations, such as referring to young people 'at risk' as Not in Employment, Education or Training, 'at risk' forms a tool for youth support systems such as outreach youth work (OYW) to find and detect young people seen as in need of intervention (Mertanen, 2020;Brunila et al, 2020;Brown, 2014). Consequently, young people considered 'at risk' are seen as a threat to economic growth and future success of society, and must therefore be directed towards education, employment or another economically recognisable forms of activity (Kiilakoski, 2014).…”

“…The outspoken aim of these support systems is to help young people to become more employable and involved in further education and work (European Commission, 2017;Garsten and Jacobsson, 2004). These investments include financial resources from the European Social Fund and from national ministries, governmental policies and private, public and third-sector bodies to develop and maintain youth support systems such as OYW, one-stop guidance centres and workshops (Mertanen, 2020;M€ a€ att€ a, 2018).…”

Interrupting psychological management of youth training

“…The whole research group in the project is interested in how the ethos of vulnerability changes expectations, policies and practices related to youth support systems (e.g. Brunila et al, 2017;Honkasilta, 2017;Kurki et al, 2017;Lanas & Brunila, 2019;Masoud, Kurki, & Brunila, forthcoming;Mertanen, Pashy, & Brunila, 2019;Tiainen, Leiviskä, & Brunila, 2019) The project combines at least two different approaches to vulnerability: one as a psycho-emotional discourse shaping subjectivity of young people; and the other, as a beginning of new conceptualizations of subjectivity. In this article the focus is on the previous.…”

“…The psychologically oriented professional discourses set boundaries on what can be said, thought, understood or felt in regard to situations or chains of events constituted as disturbing, risky or problematic behaviour (Lanas & Brunila, 2019) When the whole research group looked closely at various youth support systems it became clear that to meet present-day challenges they placed demands on young people to develop individually considered competences such as self-discipline, resilience and continuous self-development in terms of a stronger employability (e.g. Brunila, Ikävalko, Kurki, Mertanen, & Mikkola, 2016;Mertanen et al, 2019). While the idea of employability is a current aim in youth policies and practices equipping young people with necessary skills, there seems to be a lack of understanding of the wider context in which young people are seeking employment.…”

“…The following two extracts above show how the EU policy steering and their national implementations such as the Child and Youth Policy Programme speak about young people. In the two extracts, the individualization for prospering or economic survival intertwines with emotional wellbeing and the notion of employability which is understood as a set of "correct" skills (see also Mertanen et al, 2019). In addition, when the programme documents related to youth support systems were studied and how they referred to young people there was a noticeable pattern in which wider societal problems such as poverty, unemployment and a lack of education tended to be individualised as personal deficits and a personal lack of various things (see also Brunila et al, 2017): low self-esteem, mental health problems, fragile self-image, criminal mind, dependent, depressed, unsocial, mentally unstable, vulnerable, inpatient, angry, broken identity, lack of problem-solving skills, impulsive, lack of metacognitive skills, learning difficulties, speech defect, lack of initiative skills, confused, unclear, tense, gullible, lack of emotional skills, lack of vigilance, anxious, lack of life-management skills, resentful, lack of social skills etc.…”