Class, individualisation and tracing processes of inequality in a changing world: A reply to Steven Roberts

Abstract

This article replies to Steven Roberts' recent critique of my article on the concept of choice biography and how youth studies have engaged with the work of Ulrich Beck. I use this rejoinder to extend my argument about why Beck's ideas matter for youth studies. I suggest that both those who find the concept of choice biography useful and those who critique Beck need to rethink their position. I argue that the model of individualisation built by Beck describes not a reduction of structural constraint but an increase in rules and guidelines shaping young people's lives. However, as these guidelines are partial and contradictory young people must actively manage their biography in a new way. It is not those with the most resources who face the greatest demand to actively shape their biographies but those with the least as they most face the consequences of a proliferation of contradictory and changing rules and guidelines. Beck provides new ways to think about contemporary inequality, but has been under-utilised because he is misread as a continuation of long-running debates in youth sociology. Show more