Die aktivierte Generation

With the return of unemployment in Germany in the 1980s the (political) need for research on this social problem arose. Two studies conducted in the mid-1980s came to the same conclusion: the dominant patterns of interpretation within German society regarding unemployment centre around structural explanations such as undesirable economic developments or a wrong economic policy. Since then, the political and economic conditions as well as the societal discourse regarding the labour market and unemployment have changed, which also suggests a change in said patterns of interpretations. Our research shows that especially young people tend to have individualized interpretations of unemployment that are based on the gainful employment norm. Two case studies will illustrate these patterns of interpretations. They will show, that in contrast to the early studies, there are almost no legitimate temporal ‚excuses‘ to not comply with the gainful employment norm.