Abstract
Taking a biographical approach, this paper uses life history narratives across four generations of families living and working in Wigan, Lancashire to analyse social and cultural changes in working life biographies over the past 80 years. Beginning with those who left school at 14, prior to the 1944 Education Act up to the present, where young people are required to remain in education until 18, the paper examines the decisions people have taken throughout their working lives. Inevitably these are shaped by structural changes, particularly to the industrial landscape. The biographical narratives allow a “bottom up” approach to uncovering changes to life courses over three generations in a northern British former industrial town whilst also exploring the wider relations between self, society and place (conceptualized here as “taskscape”) in a post-industrial setting. Key changes over the generations are the increased ability of women to pursue careers in addition to having a family, the decrease in parental influence over career choice, and the loss of a “job for life” and employment opportunities for manual workers.
Highlights
This paper considers life history narratives of work from the 1940s to the present day
Using biographical narrative interviews with up to four generations of families from Wigan, UK, the choices, opportunities, and trajectories of working life are examined across the life course, in relation to changes in the type of work available, education, social policies, and place
By looking at family narratives based in a single place, rather than focusing on individuals per se, this paper is able to tease apart some of the changes in working lives over a period of time which encompasses those starting work before the Welfare State, during the years of the provision of a state “safety net” and into the current era of neoliberal subjectivity
Summary
This paper considers life history narratives of work from the 1940s to the present day. Using biographical narrative interviews with up to four generations of families from Wigan, UK, the choices, opportunities, and trajectories of working life are examined across the life course, in relation to changes in the type of work available, education, social policies, and place. The section discusses the methodological issues of biographical narratives and intergenerational research with families This is followed by an explanation of the data collection, including a detailed description of the place, Wigan. In looking across whole lives the dynamism of working life comes to the fore: various strands of personal choice, opportunities afforded by the place and time, and family support are woven together to create a cohesive biographical narrative
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