“It’s a game, you've got to play the game”: Motivation and ‘Being Employable’ in Ontario Unemployment Supports

This thesis research analyses and explores the ways neoliberal conceptualizations of individual responsibility are embedded in practices of becoming employable. This occurs through provision of employment services, which reflect neoliberalization in funding policy documents. An ethnographic case study was conducted in one agency providing job-seeking assistance and services to unemployed Ontarians in a region experiencing high unemployment. Research methods included participant observation of the processes of service provision, as well as interviews with seventeen unemployed job-seekers. During field research, the concept motivation emerged as a mechanism for filtering whether job-seeking clients are suitable for receiving provincially-funded employment resources. Definitions of motivation in funding policy documents embody a neoliberal rhetoric that positions individuals as ‘agents’ responsible for enacting willingness and flexibility to engage in the labour market. Findings suggest that definitions and interpretations of the concept motivation lead to practices that delegitimize disincentives to employment, thus exacerbating demotivation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Prentice, Rachel

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2015 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2015-10833

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/32272