Engineering Subjectivity: The Case of the Employment Guidance

Abstract

The meaning of unemployment has changed considerably in recent decades.
The currently prevailing representation of unemployment stresses
the central role played by the management of so-called personal
willingness. Activation policies have largely embodied this transformation
of the concept of unemployment, and the spread of this intervention
paradigm has gradually shifted the focus of attention towards the management
of subjectivity. This paper presents some results of a recent
qualitative study of recent activation employment policies. Based on the
experiences of different players (coordinators, guidance professionals
and users) concerning this intervention model, the research analyses
management strategies for dealing with the contradictions related to the
production of subjects stemming from these activation policies.