Ranji Devadason

Constructing coherence? Young adults’ pursuit of meaning through multiple transitions between work, education and unemployment

In The Corrosion of Character Richard Sennett contends that the storied nature of human experience is stunted by ‘conditions of the new economy’. He argues that individuals are unable to develop ‘coherent life narratives’ in the absence of job security. Thus, continuous employment somehow provides coherence: at least, enduring relationships with a single employer—which were possible under the auspices of organised capitalism—facilitate continuity in adult life more broadly. This paper draws on Lindes typology of ‘coherence strategies’ and in-depth interviews with young adult workers to demonstrate that young Europeans construct coherence by piecing together episodes of employment, unemployment and education in their biographies. Thus, the unfolding of the narrative is perhaps less likely to be enhanced by a sustained relationship with a single employer than discontinuous episodes of employment as part of the reflexive ‘project of the self’. Nonetheless, the degree to which young adults reflexively engage in life as a project is structured by their position within social hierarchies. This paper puts forward contrasting reflexive strategies, which are discursively appropriated by young adults depending—in part—on their labour market experience, in order to construct coherence.

Cosmopolitanism, Geographical Imaginaries and Belonging in North London

Cosmopolitanism has been described as the cultural habitus of globalisation. It is therefore, albeit defined somewhat loosely, often associated with ethnically diverse, global cities. This paper considers the extent to which London engenders cosmopolitan values amongst its residents. It draws on survey data from the LOCAL MULTIDEM study of minorities’ political participation to address these themes. The analysis examines perceptions of respect, belonging and geographical imaginaries—amongst established minorities and the ethnic majority—in north London. It is argued that cosmopolitan ethics are transformative and dialectical and, critically, cannot remain the preserve of the privileged in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. The analysis presented demonstrates that a sense of belonging and cosmopolitan imaginaries are not evenly accessed by different ethnic groups; notably, that Bangladeshi Londoners who are born and bred in the city are less likely to appropriate these discourses than Caribbean, Indian or White residents.

Class, ethnicity and individualisation: young adult narratives of transition in two European cities

Some commentators suggest that the individualisation of life stories reflects a discursive shift in the ways people talk about their lives rather than a substantive change in life patterns. However, elsewhere it is argued the individualisation of life experiences is one of the defining features of the contemporary era. This paper draws on biographical interviews carried out with 48 young adults (aged 20–35) living in Bristol and Gothenburg in 2000/3 to address these claims. The analysis explores whether transitions are framed as a consequence of personal choice and individuality or whether collectivities—specifically class and/or ethnicity—are acknowledged as structuring available opportunities and shaping choices. The material presented is situated within a broader study into young adult orientations to work and the changing nature of adulthood in post‐industrial, European cities at the beginning of the twenty‐first century.

Power, reflexivity and difference in a Multinational Corporation

The rationale for multinational corporations is the creation and sustenance of global networks to increase profits by enabling market expansion. Since corporate executives facilitate the transfer of knowledge, processes and practices across borders, they effectively embody the globalizing project. Yet do these people, who are employed to make globalization work, engage in everyday practices that denote distinctly ‘global’ modes of being? The process of transcending national differences to facilitate capital mobility in global organizations is far from complete. Center–periphery relationships persist in shaping power relations within corporations. Moreover, these hierarchies tend to reflect power inequities between nation-states in the global economy. This paper comprises analysis of the ways in which executives reflect on their identities and interactions in light of globalizing processes in a multinational corporation. The analysis identifies three distinct modes of appropriating a global corporate identity that are borne out in these executives’ reflexive deliberations about their jobs.

Metaphor, social capital and sociological imaginaries

This paper considers the conceptual value of social capital, given its contested empirical and theoretical purchase. It addresses how the use of the metaphor of capital to represent sociable and normative aspects of everyday life affects our sociological imaginations. The rhetorical force of metaphor inheres in its creative capacity to transform understanding and bring about enriched apprehension of the social world. Moreover, in social science writing it is considered invaluable to processes of knowledge transfer and engagement with different audiences, thereby enhancing the impact of social research. Yet its capacity to inspire the imagination underpins both its usefulness and its limitations. Using a empirical example, this paper illustrates how metaphor can curtail as well as enrich understanding in research. I begin by examining how metaphor ‘works’ in acts of communication, in general, before addressing – secondly – how social capital is applied analytically to the specific empirical field of ethnic social ties. This example illustrates how certain avenues of enquiry are effectively ‘closed down’ by accentuating the salience of social ties to the relative neglect of the political opportunities, institutions and resources within which they are situated. The third part of the paper considers what the metaphor of social capital achieves and precludes in our sociological imaginations.

Place Attachment, Community Cohesion and the Politics of Belonging in European Cities

The divisions brought about by migration in the post-war period are thought to present distinctive challenges for national and local polities across Europe. How urban residents cope with the close ‘juxtaposition of strangers’ within cities is an enduring theme in urban research; however, the particular juxtaposition of ethnic, national and religious differences brought about by post-war migration into Europe is thought to pose distinctive challenges for urban policy-makers and, indeed, residents of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods and cities. Policy developments relating to immigration, citizenship and minority integration across Europe have ‘coalesced’ around specific events in different countries (Fekete, 2004: 18). In Britain, riots in northern towns — Oldham, Burnley and Bradford — in the summer of 2001 prompted fears concerning the intensity of social bonds within ethnic groups, in tandem with a deficit in bridging ties between social categories. These events were perceived as a challenge to ‘multicultural’ policies and raised concerns regarding the ominous advancement of different ethnic groups leading ‘parallel lives’ in British cities (Cantle, 2001). The resultant ‘community cohesion’ agenda has inspired a number of policies and initiatives by the UK Department of Communities and Local Government which feed into local and city-level politics.

The golden handcuffs? Choice, compliance and relocation amongst transnational professionals and executives

ABSTRACT People who routinely cross borders for their jobs are often cast as beneficiaries of globalisation. But in a world of economic downturns, un- or underemployment as well as political unrest access to an increasingly global market becomes the personal and organisational solution to a host of unwanted happenings. In these circumstances, it therefore becomes less clear whether the heightened mobility of transnational workers is a benefit or indeed a choice. This article examines the onus placed on employees to be geographically mobile for their jobs. Relocation enables organisations to operate in expanding transnational markets and fields; it is therefore a prerequisite of jobs in an increasing number of sectors. Through systematic comparison of the attitudes to mobility of highly skilled employees in a ‘market’ (corporate) and a ‘moral’ (UN) case-study organisation, this article makes a contribution to our understanding of work orientations in transnational institutions. It interrogates the myth of choice of highly skilled movers and identifies the aspirations, contradictions and dilemmas that are associated with relocating for their jobs. Analysis of biographical interviews in tandem with online survey data elucidates the complex ways that the competing repertoires of choice and compliance are woven into transnational narratives.