ISSN:
1745-0101
Language:
English
Titel der Quelle:
Mobilities
Publ. der Quelle:
Abingdon : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Angaben zur Quelle:
Vol. 10, No. 2 (2015), p. 326-343
DDC:
300
Abstract:
Spatial mobility is rarely investigated with a view on social policy and welfare administrations. Yet, recent activation and workfare policies have increased pressures on the unemployed, with one of these pressures concerning spatial mobility, i.e. the requirement to accept jobs that entail long commuting hours or even relocation. This paper investigates the shift towards activation in Germany, focusing on increased demands on job-seekers' mobility, and uses a governmentality perspective, supplemented by the concept of symbolic violence, to gain insight into the strategies and practices deployed by Public Employment Service (PES) staff to produce 'mobile selves'. It demonstrates that perceptions of (im)mobility figure prominently in the assessment not only of job-seekers' labour market prospects but also of their character and motivation to seek work. Thus, the personal and familial implications of mobility are considered as mitigating circumstances mainly in the case of older jobless with poor labour market prospects. The majority of job-seekers, and particularly those living in regions with high unemployment, are subject to efforts on the part of PES staff to make them understand the necessity of being as mobile as possible; if such insight is found wanting, pedagogical devices are deployed to enhance job-seekers' mobility.
Note:
Copyright: © 2014 Taylor & Francis 2014
DOI:
10.1080/17450101.2014.898930
URL:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2014.898930
URL:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1658055017
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