Space, place and social exclusion: an ethnographic study of young people outside education and employment

Abstract

This paper reports on the first two years of a longitudinal ethnographic study of 20 young people in northern England who have been officially classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET). Drawing on Henri Lefebvre's conceptualisation of space as perceived, conceived and lived, this paper analyses how young people comprehend, use and encounter places and spaces relating to residence, work and learning, and the role of spatialities in reproducing or interrupting aspects of social exclusion and marginality. A number of key themes emerging from the data are discussed, including the interaction of conceived, perceived and lived space in young people's struggles for subjectivity, the importance of agency and biography in shaping how different lived spaces emerge from this interaction, and the possibility of critical incidents causing shifts in lived space that intensify the difficulties young people face in finding appropriate education or employment. A particularly significant finding is that participants often feel isolated and lack control over their lives, resulting in alienation from authority and community that tends to further marginalise these young people, distancing them from meaningful contexts of education, training and work.

Keywords:

• social exclusion
• youth transitions
• ethnography
• space

Notes

1. The 15–19 participation rate in the UK in 2009 was 73.7%, compared with the OECD average of 82.1% and the EU21 average of 86.2% (OECD 2011, 303).

2. The areas referred to are Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA): homogenous small areas containing around 1500 people (DCLG 2011). Most of our participants currently live in LSOAs amongst the 10% most deprived in England and typically have lived in such areas throughout their lives.