When older workers become unemployed, they face considerable obstacles in the labour market. Often they are depicted as too old to work but too young to retire. This study is based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork at the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS). By means of discourse analysis, the study shows the breadth of images available for older unemployed, ranging from unemployable «scrap iron» to savvy «old stagers». Implications of these images in peoples everyday life and in the wider context of labour market policy are explored.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
| Preface | S. 11 | ||
I. Introduction |
S. 13 | ||
| II. Literature Review | |||
| 1. | Constructionist Age Studies: Development of the Field | S. 17 | |
| 2. | Constructions of Old Age and Work: State of the Field | S. 22 | |
| III. Refinement of Research Questions and Clarification of Theoretical Concepts | |||
| 1. | Age | S. 32 | |
| 2. | Discourse | S. 33 | |
| 3. | Functions of Discourse | S. 38 | |
| 4. | Constructing Identities: Membership Categorization and Subject Positions | S. 40 | |
| IV. Methodology | |||
| 1. | Epistemological Issues | S. 47 | |
| 2. | Setting up the Project | S. 49 | |
| 3. | Data Collection: Ethnography | S. 50 | |
| 4. | Data Analysis: Discourse Analysis | S. 60 | |
| V. Analysis and Findings | |||
| 1. | Background Information on Counselling Talks | S. 67 | |
| 2. | Discourses of Old Age | S. 100 | |
| 3. | Membership Categorization | S. 127 | |
| 4. | Subject Positions | S. 134 | |
| 5. | Societal Functions of Age-related Subject Positions | S. 148 | |
| 6. | Interactional Functions of Age-related Subject Positions | S. 187 | |
VI. Conclusion |
S. 253 | ||
| Appendix: Transcription Conventions | S. 261 | ||
| List of Figures | S. 263 | ||
| List of Tables | S. 264 | ||
| References | S. 265 | ||