Beyond the Narratives of Experience and Money: The Formation of Teenage Students as Labor in Sweden

This article examines the formation of teenage students as workers through their participation in low-status service jobs, building on Weeks’ theorization of the contemporary work ethic. Based on 40 interviews with working teenagers in Sweden, the analysis explores how they use narratives of working to ‘gain experience’ and ‘earn extra money’ in response to the cultural imperative of constructing a self that holds value for employers. It highlights how these shared narratives, while enabling teenagers to make sense of their work experiences, also reflect embodied inequalities, with classed, racialized, and neighborhood-based social differences shaping their understanding of the working self. The article contributes to theorizing the ideological and practical role of paid work in shaping youth subjectivities and expands our understanding of how differently situated teenagers become part of the low-wage service labor force.