Et studie i variabilitet blandt unge i gymnasiet

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to problematize a gen- eral tendency towards abstract understandings of persons and institutions: Abstract under- standings that, in building on uniform con- ceptualizations of persons and institutional practices, put people under pressure given the present neoliberal conditions in society. Indi- vidual success or the lack thereof is mistakenly presented as a question of personal qualities or personal flaws. Such pressure is potentially challenging for young people on the verge of an emerging adult life, where existential ques- tions of identity and becoming are ever pres- ent. The paper thus aims at presenting ways of overcoming abstract understandings of young people and institutional practices by way of grasping variability analytically.

The focal point of the paper is an analytical interest in young people starting high school, and it is demonstrated how various standards dynamically afford actions for young people in various ways. We will propose the concepts of ‘eco-niche’, ‘the affording of societal standards’, and ‘subjectified subjectivity’ as useful analytical tools for the study of variability in young people’s meeting with, and negotiation of, societal standards, embedded in concrete high school settings. We will argue that variability is a key feature in the understanding of young people’s conduct of everyday life, in and out of youth life in high school.