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Beyond the Narratives of Experience and Money: The Formation of Teenage Students as Labor in Sweden

Kallos, Anna LU orcid (2025) In Critical Sociology p.1-16
Abstract
This article examines the formation of teenage students as workers through their participation in low-status service jobs, building on Weeks’ theorization of the contemporary work ethic. Based on 40 interviews with working teenagers in Sweden, the analysis explores how they use narratives of working to ‘gain experience’ and ‘earn extra money’ in response to the cultural imperative of constructing a self that holds value for employers. It highlights how these shared narratives, while enabling teenagers to make sense of their work experiences, also reflect embodied inequalities, with classed, racialized, and neighborhood-based social differences shaping their understanding of the working self. The article contributes to theorizing the... (More)
This article examines the formation of teenage students as workers through their participation in low-status service jobs, building on Weeks’ theorization of the contemporary work ethic. Based on 40 interviews with working teenagers in Sweden, the analysis explores how they use narratives of working to ‘gain experience’ and ‘earn extra money’ in response to the cultural imperative of constructing a self that holds value for employers. It highlights how these shared narratives, while enabling teenagers to make sense of their work experiences, also reflect embodied inequalities, with classed, racialized, and neighborhood-based social differences shaping their understanding of the working self. The article contributes to theorizing the ideological and practical role of paid work in shaping youth subjectivities and expands our understanding of how differently situated teenagers become part of the low-wage service labor force.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Critical Sociology
pages
16 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:105010131212
ISSN
1569-1632
DOI
10.1177/08969205251346899
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
173b2a7d-bb49-4947-9f81-3cce1fe356e6
date added to LUP
2025-08-18 14:06:19
date last changed
2025-08-19 09:11:13
@article{173b2a7d-bb49-4947-9f81-3cce1fe356e6,
  abstract     = {{This article examines the formation of teenage students as workers through their participation in low-status service jobs, building on Weeks’ theorization of the contemporary work ethic. Based on 40 interviews with working teenagers in Sweden, the analysis explores how they use narratives of working to ‘gain experience’ and ‘earn extra money’ in response to the cultural imperative of constructing a self that holds value for employers. It highlights how these shared narratives, while enabling teenagers to make sense of their work experiences, also reflect embodied inequalities, with classed, racialized, and neighborhood-based social differences shaping their understanding of the working self. The article contributes to theorizing the ideological and practical role of paid work in shaping youth subjectivities and expands our understanding of how differently situated teenagers become part of the low-wage service labor force.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Kallos, Anna}},
  issn         = {{1569-1632}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--16}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Critical Sociology}},
  title        = {{Beyond the Narratives of Experience and Money: The Formation of Teenage Students as Labor in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08969205251346899}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/08969205251346899}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}