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‘Sticky Subjects’ or ‘Cosmopolitan Creatives’? Social Class, Place and Urban Young People’s Aspirations for Work in the Knowledge Economy

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  • Kim Allen
  • Sumi Hollingworth

Abstract

Aspirations have been a key target of education policy, situated as central to meeting the needs of the ‘knowledge economy’. In the UK, there have been calls to raise young people’s aspirations for careers in the creative industries—identified as emblematic of the new economic order and a key growth sector. Yet, the sector is socially and spatially restricted, characterised by unclear entry routes, exclusionary working practices and uneven geographical concentration. This paper draws on research with young people (aged 14–16 years) living in three urban areas of deindustrialisation in England to examine the geography of young people’s aspirations for careers in the creative industries. The concept of place-specific habitus is used to problematise asocial and aspatial discourses of aspiration and to illuminate how social class and place powerfully and complexly interrelate to shape young people’s opportunities for social and geographical mobility through and for work in the knowledge economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Allen & Sumi Hollingworth, 2013. "‘Sticky Subjects’ or ‘Cosmopolitan Creatives’? Social Class, Place and Urban Young People’s Aspirations for Work in the Knowledge Economy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(3), pages 499-517, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:50:y:2013:i:3:p:499-517
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098012468901
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brown, Phillip & Hesketh, Anthony, 2004. "The Mismanagement of Talent: Employability and Jobs in the Knowledge Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199269549.
    2. Tim Butler, 2002. "Thinking Global but Acting Local: The Middle Classes in the City," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 7(3), pages 50-68, August.
    3. Sumi Hollingworth & Ayo Mansaray, 2012. "Conviviality under the Cosmopolitan Canopy? Social mixing and friendships in an urban secondary school," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 17(3), pages 195-206, August.
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