The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied… but written off as trash.
– John Berger
We all have opinions on the causes and the solutions of social problems. Where do these come from?
One major source is the ideologies we hold. Ideologies help us to make sense of the world and are transmitted through socialization by families, schools, and media. They inform our everyday thinking, including our thinking about social problems. Despite this, they are invisible to most of us. However, failure to consider their effects can skew our understanding of the causes and solutions to social problems and what needs to be done about them.
In the module on social problems, you were introduced to a chart highlighting different ways of viewing youth unemployment (chart in Critically Thinking About Social Problems section). The following chart adds the additional layer of ideology. Listen to the voiceover as you look at the chart to think through how ideology and discourses are related to and shape how social problems are perceived.
| View of the Problem | Individual Problem | Institutional Problem | Systemic / Structural Problem |
| Corresponding Ideology | Neoconservative | Neoliberal | Social democratic |
| • Does not acknowledge chronic unemployment is built into capitalism • Does not consider privilege, social capital, and class as advantages • The fittest of the fit survive. The weak are undeserving | • Acknowledges structural flaws within the system but will not change the system • Supports programs that help individual youth • Supports educational reforms | • Seeks to reform capitalism system and pushes for more equitable distribution of economic resources in society Democratic socialist • Long-term goal is a socialist society where there is democratic decision making about economic policies and political structures Decolonizing • Capitalism is destructive and oppressive. It must be dismantled | |
| Dominant Discourses | • “Today’s youth are too entitled, lazy, and lacking in ambition.” • “Good jobs are a thing of the past.” • “Get used to the gig economy. The new reality is work that is unstable, low paying, with no benefits or pensions.” • “There are jobs out there; if you try really hard you will find work.” | • “Students are being shortchanged by the educational system. Schools don’t adequately prepare students with appropriate skills and knowledge for the job market.” | • “Young people are underemployed because government policies favour profits for the corporate sector at the expense of the general public. Contributing factors include government cutbacks and outsourcing along with corporate downsizing, deskilling and union bashing. This has created low-paying, unstable and temporary jobs where many people and particularly youth are vulnerable to becoming the working poor.” • “Capitalism is based on greed and short-term gain with no consideration of the harm to future generations.” |
| Assumptions | • Individuals have to get used to competition in the labour market. • If you’re not finding work, it’s your fault for not looking hard enough or not having a good enough resume. • Individuals must adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and brand themselves to get work. | • If the education system better prepared youth for the labour market, there would be no youth unemployment. • Fixing a public institution will help youth find jobs. | • We need to look at a number of different dimensions when we look at this social problem, especially social status. • The roots of the social problem run deeper than any one thing. It is a product of a number of different social, economic, political and cultural factors in how society is organized. |
| Institutional Norms & Practices | • Does not support institutional measures to address the social problem • May engage in prejudging, stereotyping youth • Social identity may be a basis for employment discrimination | • Programs specifically targeted to hiring youth • Social identity may be a basis for employment discrimination • Policies create precarious work and unemployment | • Minimum living income for all unemployed workers • Seek more worker control and decision making in how the economy is organized • Wealth inequality benefits the wealthy. We need democracy, community, and inclusion, and must treat the earth as a living entity not a resource to exploit |
As you can see in the chart, neoconservatives tend to view unemployment as an individual problem. Dominant discourses align with these assumptions. While some youth do make poor choices and lack ambition, it is stereotypical to characterize all unemployed youth as lazy and lacking ambition. Neoconservatives do not acknowledge systemic issues like poverty, racism, sexism, or homophobia. This can create hostile workplaces for minoritized social groups and allow for employment discrimination. When it comes to unemployment and poverty, neoconservative governments and corporations are preoccupied with questions such as: “How can we stop people from cheating or abusing the welfare system?” or “How can we manage the poor so they don’t disrupt the social order?”
Neoliberals also view unemployment and poverty as individual problems, but historically have acknowledged that social and economic systems are contributing factors. Institutional programs such as social work interventions, employment preparedness, retraining or further education are offered to help those who become “disadvantaged” by the economic system.
Neoliberals also favour privatization of services because they claim public services are inefficient. So they also see public educational institutions as partly responsible for the problem of youth unemployment. The discourse of “public institutions are inefficient and ineffective, and should be run like businesses” suggests that public educational institutions are not offering relevant educational programs and are poorly run. Consequently, governments have forced the public education sector to operate on business models rather than as essential and accessible public services. This has resulted in cutbacks and the elimination of programs. Another consequence of operating on the business model is the deregulation of tuition so that tuition for degrees that lead to well-paying jobs such as law and medicine is too expensive for most middle- and working-class students. While educational systems can always improve, this discourse of the “failure of public services” deflects awareness from the underlying structures responsible for creating unemployment and poverty in the first place and the instability of the capitalist economic system. Neoliberal discourses normalize unemployment and poverty and put the onus on individuals to find success through institutional programs that may or may not help them.
Those who view youth unemployment through the lens of transformative ideologies such as social democratic and antiracist/feminist focus on failures of the economic system and political structures as the primary cause of unemployment and poverty. Many advocates of this approach argue that the system cannot be reformed. What is needed is a fundamental change in the organization of society because it is currently structured to advantage the wealthy and powerful and exploit the minoritized and oppressed.
