Nuorisotutkimus 2/2016

Tämän numeron tekstit pureutuvat työelämän ja koulutuksen kysymyksiin ja osoittavat, ettei pääsy työpöytien ääreen ole itsestäänselvyys kaikille nuorille. Resurssit, voimavarat, eroavat. Sanna Mäkinen tarkastelee omassa artikkelissaan toisen asteen koulutuksen keskeyttäneiden nuorten kertomuksia omista voimavaroistaan. Hän purkaa yksilöön kohdentuvaa puhetta, ja osoittaa, etteivät yksilöiden resurssit kasva tyhjiössä, vaan ympäristö, vuorovaikutus eri ihmisten kanssa, luottamussuhteet ja ammattilaisten toiminta rajaavat mahdollisuuksia. Mia Hakovirta ja Anu Raijas kuvaavat omassa artikkelissaan nuorten näkemyksiä välttämättömyyskulutuksesta. Heidän mukaansa lapset ja nuoret ovat harkitsevia kuluttajia, joiden mukaan välttämätön kulutus kohdistuu yhteydenpitoon, liikkumiseen ja vertaissuhteiden ylläpitämiseen. Nuorten työelämän ulkopuolella olevien miesten näkemyksiä tarkastelevassa tekstissään Tuomo Kokkonen, Kati Närhi ja Aila-Leena Matthies soveltavat lahjametaforaa työelämäsuhteen kuvaamiseen. Heidän tekstinsä kuvaa pirstoutunutta velvollisuudentuntoa, epäonnistumisen kokemuksia työnhaussa sekä ristiriitaa, joka syntyy työnhaun todellisuudesta ja yhteiskunnan oletuksista. 

Sisällysluettelo

Pääkirjoitus
Tomi Kiilakoski
Työ ja elämä 1

Artikkelit
Sanna Mäkinen
Nuorten toimijuuden tilat ja rajat koulutuksen katveista kerrottuna 3

Mia Hakovirta & Anu Raijas
Lasten ja nuorten käsityksiä välttämättömästä kulutuksesta 19

Tuomo Kokkonen, Kati Närhi & Aila-Leena Matthies
Miksi lahjani ei kelpaa? Näkökulmia työelämän ulkopuolella olevien
nuorten miesten käsityksiin työelämään osallistumisesta 35

Lektiot
Riikka Hohti
Classroom matters: Research with children as entanglement 50

Puheenvuorot
Hannu L. T. Heikkinen
Koulutus, työ ja elämä 61

Arviot
Antti Maunu
Johdatus kohtaamiseen 67

Merja Leppälahti
Tutkimus somalityttöjen elämästä 73

Tässä numerossa kirjoittavat 18

Nuorisotiedon kirjaston uutuusluettelo 76

English summaries

The spaces and boundaries of young people’s agency as told from the fringes of the education system
Sanna Mäkinen
The Finnish Journal of Youth Research
(“Nuorisotutkimus”) Vol 34, (2), 3–18

This article examines the spaces and boundaries of agency in the life stories of young secondary education dropouts. Agency is explored by looking at how young people access resources in their local communities and institutions and how the value of these resources is determined. Theoretically, the article draws on youth researcher Ani Wierenga’s conceptualizations of young people’s resources, and class and feminist theorist Beverley Skeggs’ (2014, 2011) views on power structures that constitute value. The ethnographic field observation for the study was conducted and interview data collected in North Karelia in spring 2014 in the context of a Youth Support (Nuorten tuki) project which has developed a low-threshold model of guidance service delivery for young people, a One-stop Guidance Centre (Ohjaamo), and a preparatory training model for vocational education.
The primary data used in the article consist of interviews with 17 young people who participated in the Youth Support project’s preparatory training for vocational education. The data were analysed using a narrative approach. In the light of the analysis, it can be stated that the construction of value for different resources is community- and context-embedded. Attaining the ‘right kind’ of resources in different communities and contexts becomes a pivotal factor in the formation of space for agency when young people describe their career routes, and the different opportunities and obstacles they have encountered in their lived lives.
Keywords: education, resources, social relations, agency

Children’s perceptions of necessary consumption
Mia Hakovirta & Anu Raijas
The Finnish Journal of Youth Research
(“Nuorisotutkimus”) Vol 34, (2), 19–34

Based on 30 semi-structured themed interviews among 11- to 15-year-olds, this article examines what the young interviewees regard as necessary consumption and how they justify these necessities. Grounded theory methodology was advanced in analysing the youngsters’ perceptions of necessary consumption. When analysing their justifications for basic necessities, a theory-driven approach was applied, guided by Holt’s (1995) typology of consumption practices. Surprisingly, the young people saw few commodities as essential, mentioning less than ten items as being essential out of a list of almost 40. A cell phone, hobbies, a computer, as well as the opportunity to invite friends home and to participate in a field trip were regarded as the most important necessities. In terms of consumption practices, sharing consumer experiences with others and consumption as recreation were particularly highlighted. For youngsters, this explains the importance of the social nature of consumption.
Keywords: consumption, necessary consumption, consumption practices, youngsters, young people, themed interview

Why isn’t my gift valid? Perspectives on young unemployed men’s perceptions of work
Tuomo Kokkonen, Kati Närhi & Aila-Leena Matthies
The Finnish Journal of Youth Research
(“Nuorisotutkimus”) Vol 34, (2), 35–49

This article analyses the way in which young unemployed men under the age of 30 understand work as a part of their life. The empirical data were gathered during focus group interviews and analysed qualitatively. Theoretically, the article is based on the idea of gift relationships as promulgated by Marcel Mauss. Gift relationships are also examined as part of the conventional welfare state and through current analyses of individualisation and welfare state restructuring.
The article argues that contemporary criticism of gift relationships forces us to limit their scope to face-to-face relationships. Gift relationships are no longer strongly reflected at the structural level of society. Accordingly, our empirical findings emphasise that the young unemployed men have resigned themselves to their fate, and regard finding a permanent job as improbable. For this reason, governmental activation measures, still loosely reflecting the gift-like mutual relationship between an individual and the state, are regarded as unrealistic.
Keywords: youth unemployment, working life, activation policy values