Constituting neoliberal subjects? 'Aspiration' as technology of government in UK policy discourse

• Published in: Journal of education policy Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 327 - 342
• Main Authors: Spohrer, Konstanze, Stahl, Garth, Bowers-Brown, Tamsin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 04.05.2018
• Subjects: Aspiration; Aspirations; Economic Opportunities; Educational Attainment; Ethics; Foreign Countries; governmentality; Michel Foucault; Moral Values; Motivation; Neoliberalism; Policy Analysis; Self Efficacy; Social Mobility; subjectivity; Youth Opportunities; United Kingdom

Since the 2000s, successive governments in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have embraced the idea of 'raising aspiration' among young people as a solution to persisting educational and socio-economic inequalities. Previous analyses have argued that these policies tend to individualise str...