Meaning/fulness through Family: Discourses of Work among Poor and Working Class Youth

Abstract

Rooted in neoliberal discourses, the current sociopolitical environment (including academia) delegitimizes work done by youth and people of color, positioning work as an individual accomplishment whose meaning/fulness lies in individual development or the work itself. Through interview research, I examine working class (largely nonwhite) youth’s articulation of the meaning/fulness of work as an opportunity to: 1) take responsibility for, 2) demonstrate reciprocity to, and 3) spend time with family members. Implications demonstrate work as relational process, suggest an extension of organizational citizenship behavior to a familial context, and challenge characterizations of the working class’ commitment to maintaining their socioeconomic status.

Keywords:

• Discourse
• Family
• Meaning/Fulness Of Work
• Neoliberal
• Social Class
• Youth

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Angela Trethewey for her endless support and feedback on this manuscript as well as the helpful advice of Dr. Rowland and the anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.