Social Exclusion and the Remaking of Social Networks

How do young people make effective transitions into work? This question has occupied the minds of parents and young people, and also researchers and policy makers, as they face up to challenges presented by globalization and technological change. The foremost governmental response to this challenge has been to expand training systems to improve young people's qualifications. However, it is clear that for many this response has failed to deliver the promised rewards and the legitimation of this strategy has been exhausted. This book explores developments in training and in social welfare to show that third way administrations in England and New Zealand are reconnecting young people to the labour market through creating social networks. Social Exclusion and the Remaking of Social Networks describes how networks are being remade by the state in commodified forms.

’In Social Exclusion and the Remarking of Social Networks Robbie Strathdee argues that with the shift in welfare regimes the Third Way state has increasingly intervened to take up functions of familial and community networks in order to facilitate transition of youth into work. Strathdee's book provides a penetrating insight into Third Way strategies for regulating the youth labour market and attempts to build social capital. It is a prescient analysis that sheds light on the role of the state in the recruitment, training and placement of workers and the remarking of social networks. While the emphasis is on recent policies implemented in England and New Zealand, the analysis and conclusions have wider significance. This book is highly recommended for those interested in the regulation of the youth labour market and what the author calls the commodification of social capital.’ Michael A. Peters, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA and University of Glasgow, UK ’...an interesting comparative study of state responses to managing transitions into employment during times of social and economic disruptions...sheds an interesting light on globalization theories that portend the demise of the state vis-à-vis economic globalization.’ Contemporary Sociology ’...will be of interest to those looking for a critique of social policy interventions into the youth labour market and the theoretical underpinnings of such policies. It will also interest those wanting a comprehensive review of the literature associated with disadvantaged young people’s skill development and entry into the labour market.’ Studies in the Education of Adults

Rob Strathdee is Senior Lecturer of Education in the School of Education at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.