Edgeryders Presentation RebeccaCollins LoteConference ForCirculation

7/31/2019 Edgeryders Presentation RebeccaCollins LoteConference ForCirculation

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LI VI NG O N TH E E D GE C O NF E RE NC E

S TRA S B O U RG

14-15 JUNE 2012

R E B E C C A C O L L I N S

U N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E L O N D O N

BUILDING THE TRANSITIONHANDBOOK

THE TRANSITION SO FAR

Thursday, June 21, 2012

The purpose of this presentation is to synthesise some of the key themes that have emerged across the (hugely diverse) missionreports, and open up a space to consider where Edgeryders think policies are working and where they could work better.The aim of this session as a whole is to generate some discussion on this topic drawing on the expertise of the whole research team which formally may be those writing for the handbook but really includes everyone who has participated in Edgeryders throughthe platform.


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The Edgeryders Platform: A Many-Layered Thing


First, Id like to provide some context on the analysis that has been conducted so far because it is likely that participants will have haquite a different view of the platform and its content compared to the way we as researchers have been looking at it. It is alsointeresting to consider how the innovative Edgeryders methodology has been truly fully appropriated by its participants. My intentionhere is to just illustrate briefly how rich the data is that results. To do this, I want to use the metaphor of a cake.

The foundational layer of the cake is how the project has been conceptualised by the project team - as a social game, peer-to-peerlearning environment and a shared space capable of facilitating more sharing. So it is already intended to be several things as well asresearch tool.

The second layer, the campaigns and missions, have largely been structured by the Edgeryders core team in collaboration with keycontributors through the platform. However, they have been taken in many directions by participants in their mission reports. Thecomments on these reports constitute the third layer of the cake.

From here, relationships between participants have developed through and outside the platform, some of which go on to feed back intthe project in the form of more comments and, sometimes, new mission reports. This adds to the dynamism of the picture thatemerges of the nature of Edgeryders experiences and responses to their present challenges. At the same time, the development of thiscumulative illustration of participants experiences offers an insight into their socio-economic specificities the real-life settings inwhich Edgeryders lives are played out.

Finally, there is the overall meta-level of the project as a whole what does the project in its entirety suggest about how Europes younpeople are transitioning into a meaningful and active life?

The aim of our analysis has been to focus on the higher layers in order to draw together common threads that could usefully inform

policy development.


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Social game; peer-to-peer learningenvironment; shared/sharing space








policy development.


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Campaigns and mission reports(extremely diverse!)








policy development.


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Comments; development of

conversations








policy development.


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conversations

Development of relationships;feeding back in to mission reports?








policy development.


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conversations


Details of socio-economicspecificities i.e. the real-life

settings








policy development.


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conversations


Details of socio-economicspecificities i.e. the real-life

settings

The cake itself!The project as a whole








policy development.


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Id like to say a few words about the analysis process in order to open up the process, so that you are able to see for yourselves howparticipants mission reports have become the general themes that I will go on to talk about.

Weve been taking a very grounded approach to the analysis, using a process called open coding in which we allow the data to revealto us the most significant themes it contains. We read the mission report text and then assign sections codes or keywords whichrelate to the themes contained in that section. The screen shot in this slide shows a few of the codes generated from the Making ALiving campaign.

In this presentation my concern is to talk about how this data might be used directly to formulate ideas for policy but itsimportant to be aware that this data is so rich (and there is so much of it) that it constitutes an important and exciting resource for awide range of individuals and institutions concerned with youth transitions (as well as other topics the data touches on). A decisionis still to be reached about the future of the data but the community is already involved in discussions about issues of access andprivacy.

Its also important to note that the richness of data also means its messy the nature of ethnography is that its messy. So thethemes Im going to talk about represent an extraction of some general points around some of the most frequently-discussed facetsof Edgeryders transitions. However, its important to be clear that the clarity thats imposed on these ideas for the sake of thisdiscussion doesnt fully reflect the complexity of how stories are told in the platform. That said, there is a lot of sense we can makeof this rich, messy data.


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The (Working) World Out There


I want to begin with some context on how Edgeryders appear to relate to the status quo regarding expectations of adult life. A major part ofthis imagined or expected future relates to participation in labour market and certainly much Edgeryders content relates to working life.First, it is essential to acknowledge the current socio-economic climate the extent and scale of the crisis is unlike anything this generationand maybe one or two previous generations have had to deal with. So already the ways in which Europeans of all ages navigate transitions intoand out of work are in considerable flux.

Within the platform there was relatively little talk about work in the traditional 9-5 format, and what talk there was tended to reflectexperiences of frustration and disappointment.

EXAMPLE Alberto Masetti-Zannini moved from disenchantment with the corporate sector to equal disappointment working with NGOs.Today he is an entrepreneur and consultant.

EXAMPLE Nadia, in her report, having a job, no thanks, said she feels constrained working within context of institutional rules and

politics.EXAMPLE - Pete quit job in retail sector nearly ten years ago in search of something more fulfilling [written by cataspanglish].

EXAMPLE Lucyanna wrote her mission report [Being paid for doing what you like still impossible] from the perspective of having tochoose whether to enter into this sort of work that she knows wont bring her satisfaction.

Some Edgeryders do inhabit this world of traditional/mainstream work but often only part-time as a way of paying bills. This is importantbecause it reflects a rupture in the existing understanding of young peoples transitions, which are now increasingly characterised by a contextof short-term perspectives. There is an inherent danger that young people become entrapped in forms of work that fail to value thecontributions they make, or could make not just low paid work in bars, call centres and shops, but also unpaid internships. There was a greatmission report by Idil on this subject - Unpaid internships are discriminatory and should be ended. So we have to ask, is thereliterally a price to pay for the transition to working life where precariousness becomes a norm and in which young peoples work is simply not

valued. The value of work is a major point (raised in yesterdays discussion as well) and one it may be worth revisiting in the discussion thatfollows.

Another anxiety that emerged was around so-called portfolio careers a few months, maybe years, in one job before moving on to somethingcompletely different, then repeating the pattern again a few months or years later. On the one hand, this form of working could simply be seenas reflecting the nature of the current job market organisations of all sizes are increasingly hedging their bets and employing people on short-term contracts. But at the same time, there seems to be a very dysfunctional approach to recruitment where recruiters dont know how tohandle individuals increasingly broad range of competencies something which current working practices are complicit in producing.

However - the majority of talk about work in the platform was rather about Edgeryders own projects the sort of work you/I/we want to do.And theres a lot that we can take from this to respond to the overall aims of this project to inform new policies to help ease this transition.Examples of some of the ways Edgeryders are already acting will emerge through the rest of the talk.

So, in summary, Edgeryders often prefer to operate outside current conceptualisations of the labour market because it does not reward (oreven recognise) the kind of work they want to do.


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Frustration and disappointment withtraditional work experiences.

Part-time work to pay the bills. Short-termism; entraps young people in low

value work.

Portfolio careers how are they reallyseen?














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value work.


Work for Edgeryders means thework they want to do and, often, aredoing.














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value work.


Work for Edgeryders means thework they want to do and, often, aredoing.

Edgeryders prefer to act outsidecurrent conceptualisations of thelabour market because it does notreward the kind of work they want todo.














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Expectations associated with transition...

Flickr: Jackal of all Trades

Flickr: GarryKnight

Flickr: Grumbler %-|

... But how are these facets of everyday life changing?And what form do Edgeryders want them to take?


There are several other expectations that tend to be associated with how adult life is currently constructed - family, healthcare,pensions, a secure home. And these are things that Edgeryders parents generation, to a large extent, have taken for granted.

Family: Brindusa yesterday talked about how todays working world does not allow enough free time to develop healthyrelationships, particularly family relationships. On the platform Missy K8 talks about how often its necessary to put professionalgoals aside in order to live a life suited to creating a family.

Healthcare: there have been a few mission reports on this topic and it was the focus of the Resilience break-out group earlier.Healthcare, as an arm of the state, is itself in poor health in many European countries Greece being a primary example. But whatexpectations do Edgeryders have around living healthy lives and the infrastructures that should exist to support that?

Pensions and care in old age: again, these issues have infrequently been covered in mission reports. Is this because Edgerydershave too many concerns in the present and near future to be thinking forty or more years ahead?

A stable home: long term residency whether in a home you buy or rent long-term is increasingly out of reach for many youngpeople and even young families. Mission reports on this subject have been split between expression of anxiety about not being ableto achieve home ownership or home stability, and innovative approaches to housing such as co-housing. The fact that co-housingrepresents a workable, co-operative solution to this growing crisis opens up a space for us to think about what other sorts ofsolutions to large scale social challenges might be reached through the co-operative model.

The question that concerns us here, though, is about what forms do you think these core facets of everyday life should take? Whatmakes sense to you in the context of your primary concerns for your lives? Something to discuss later...


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Flickr: Toban Black

Flickr: gorbould


Its also important to consider the different ways in which Edgeryders see state powers and the extent to which they constitute asignificant presence in their lives.

In one sense the state can be unnervingly close - capable of reaching in to Edgeryders worlds when their actions are beingcriminalised, or when positive actions are curtailed by wide-sweeping policies.

EXAMPLE - Edwin [mission report: mo money, mo problems] describes his friend who is unemployed but spends a lot of timerunning community cinema. Despite providing tangible benefits to his community, he is threatened with losing state welfare supportif he doesnt accept a low paid job in retail.

In other mission reports, the state is otherwise distant or plain out of reach. A good example of this which seems to resonate withseveral Edgeryders is experiences of trying to access funding. The experience is described as bureaucratic with slow processes, andmoney wasted through not being appropriately targeted or delivered into the hands of those who need it. Sometimes Edgeryders havesimply been told that their projects somehow dont fit the necessary criteria. So while it would seem that there are funding sources outhere getting access to them is a major problem.

Whats also worth noting is the sense amongst Edgeryders that were living in a socio-economic context in which its not really possiblto avoid being political anymore particularly when civil liberties are being threatened from many angles. But for most, the politicalacts discussed through the platform are those that tend to avoid engaging with state systems rather than tackling them head on. Andthe reason for this tends to be non-responsiveness on the part of those state institutions its Edgeryders experience that theirattempts to open up dialogue fail to be taken up.


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Values and Motivations

Integrity: What do I look for in a job? Today - having gonethrough the rabbit hole and come out the other way - I look

for meaning and purpose. I only want to do things that fitinto a bigger scheme, and that make sense for our future. Iwant to do things that are not morally dubious. I look at thepeople I will be working with: I do not want to work withpeople I dont respect and value. (Alberto Masetti-Zannini)

Passion: Even when you dont have a career plan, thingsmay turn out well just because at any given time you're

where you want to be and doing what you love. (NoemiSalantiu)

Autonomy: It's about taking control and responsibility foryour activities and presence and not complaining that thesystem doesn't let you do that - forget the system, I'll makemy own way. (Pete Ashton)


One key thing we need to understand in an analysis of how young people are transitioning to a meaningful independent life is *why*theyre doing it in the ways they are. What sort of moral compass is being used by Edgeryders to make sense of their position in theworld and how they want to act in it? There is huge diversity in the stories told through platform but there are several recurringvalues/motivations that paint a clear picture of what drives Edgeryders actions.

Integrity seen as foundational to ones own prosperity. It also encapsulates the wider set of values held.

Passion a prime motivating force; not only in terms of giving direction and maximising opportunities to find meaningful work, butalso as being worth much more than money.

Autonomy this is about more than just an individualised transition, its a personal journey embedded within a shared one. Whileit is partly a personal quest for self efficacy and validation , it is also about being part of a community of change, about creating acontext to which Edgeryders want to contribute.

So its through the lens of values like these that Edgeryders are negotiating the transition to an active life. In the final section ofpresentation Im going to concentrate on some of the key facets of the transition as revealed by the mission reports.


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Risks... And Responses


First some of the major risks... And how Edgeryders are responding to them.

Failure to make successful transition: its a genuine concern that if Edgeryders are unable to gain some kind of security throughthe work they want to do, is a life of precariousness inevitable?

Exploitation: the issue of the extent to which low-skilled work is valued or not valued is a major economic and employment issuthat reaches far beyond Edgeryders, but of particular concern here is the ways in which short-term job placements are valued. Thequestion of paying interns has become a particularly contentious topic and at a time when fewer families have the resources to keepsupporting adult children, gaining experience in unpaid work may be less and less feasible for many.

Criminalisation: this might involve occupying private spaces, such as squatting in unoccupied homes [Alessia talked about thisyesterday], or being unwilling to take low paid work in order to continue to receive welfare payments if the cost is stopping work oncommunity initiatives [Edwins mission report, mo money, mo problems].

Marginalisation: in some respects this aligns with the concern about portfolio careers its about not conforming to existing modelof transition, and the risk of alienation that can potentially result. There seemed to be a real discomfort amongst some Edgerydersaround explaining to people that they choose to work for free or engage in forms of work that are still seen as unusual and at a distancfrom the mainstream.

But while these risks are significant, they dont detract from Edgeryders willingness to be doing something positive.

For many this involves self-employment where they can define they value of their work.

EXAMPLE [Patrick Davennes] Knitting Guns Press e-publishing which cuts out the logistics that increase production costs but dontcontribute to the value of the thing produced.

There is also considerable interest in valuing work in terms outside of standard currency, whether thats local currencies or timebanking, both of which attracted quite a lot of discussion. [Jacky; Matthias; Lucyanna; Elisabetta; Eric; Lucas and others]

The question is whether there should also be a large-scale institutional revaluation of (young peoples) work, and, if so, how this mightbe operationalised in practice.

Family and friends are often turned to for support, particularly when it comes to resources, particularly money. But this support is noavailable to all and increasingly young peoples families are facing their own precariousness. So its important to ask who else shouldbearing some risk and offering support.

There also seems to be significant solidarity through communities of peers often online and related to the interests and activities ofindividuals. In fact, one of the themes emerging from the Living Together campaign has been around how peer communities are beinassimilated into family-type relationships in light of the support they offer.

The issue of resources, particularly social resources, has been a significant one here and so its worth thinking some more about...


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Failure to make a successfultransition.

Lack of fulfilment A lifetime of precariousness?

Exploitation Becoming trapped in low/no

wage work.

Criminalisation Upholding values in pursuit of

driving change. Marginalisation

Stepping outside of traditionaltransitional pathways.
















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wage work.




Edgeryders create their ownforms of value.

Self-employment; localcurrencies; time banking.

Institutional revaluation ofyoung peoples work?
















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wage work.







Family and friends cansometimes offer acushion...

But for how long? Who else should bear some of the

risks?
















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wage work.







Family and friends cansometimes offer acushion...

But for how long? Who else should bear some of the

risks?

Community of peers Solidarity through shared

experiences.
















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Resources Who Has Access?


Without a doubt, the biggest resources Edgeryders draw on is people in part this is for emotional support but also more tangibleresources, e.g. money, skills, tools or accommodation of some sort. It can also include experience from teachers, mentors, peers.

There are two questions here one Ive already asked and it about the extent to which Edgeryders personal networks are bearingmost of the risk in their transitions. The extent to which Edgeryders seek support (of all kinds) from their networks involves takingvery personal risks what if something goes wrong that destroys a relationship? These are arguably much higher stakes than otherrisks taken in institutional contexts.

The second is about access to allies and their resources. In a more fragmented, mobile society, relationships are more vulnerable they more easily come and go (potentially). Internet access offers a way of bridging this gap but even now internet access can belimited by economic opportunities and even political issues depending on place. Theres also the question of having the requisite

skills (social capital) to make the most of opportunities provided.

Making the most of accessible resources also requires knowing how you want to use them, how you can use them and this requires

understanding the social context/work context one is operating in basically, how the real world works. Adria wrote a greatmission report Theres gonna be some changes made where she draws on her experience of an internship in Berlin to join thosereal-life experiences together with they way she then made sense of them through her academic knowledge. Its a good example ofhow resources and allies can be better used when we understand how we and our actions fit into the bigger system and to do thisrequires learning about it.

There seem to be some problems with learning though or so was suggested in the campaign on this subject (as well as yesterdaysdiscussion). Tertiary education, higher education, university seem unable to equip Edgeryders with the skills needed for the very

new sort of transition were experiencing. Shared and collaborative learning is treated with suspicion by many educationalestablishments and thus avoided. This is a big problem in an increasingly networked and collaborative working world. Itsinteresting that this is an area where Edgeryders have been particularly active Yesterday Ben talked about his career guidance/mentoring service and another Edgeryder, Giacomo, has a similar project.

So one of the key points Edgeryders are pointing to is a gap between the knowledge they gain through education and the knowledgethey need to manage their transition in the real world. And an important question is, therefore, beyond the actions that Edgerydersthemselves are taking, how can institutions, including educational institutions, be better allies, and offer more or better-targetedresources in this context.

One context in which institutions might be better allies is around institutional funding or other incentives for innovations or socialenterprise. As Alberto suggests in this quote, incentives are key to making things happen but reports from Edgeryders suggest that


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Allies: Family, friends, peers, teachers, mentors,collaborators.

Allies are people (or non-human entities, such asinstitutions) that we can turn to for help as we angle formaking a living with reasonable integrity. (Vinay)

Inequality of access economic, political, educationalreasons.













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Making the most of resources requires knowledge. Mission Report: Theres gonna be some changes made

(Adria)













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Making the most of resources requires knowledge. Mission Report: Theres gonna be some changes made

(Adria)

Institutional allies how to reach them? Innovation rhetoric is no substitute for a well-designed set

of incentives. If we want people to innovate, we need to beready to enable them to do so. It is difficult, but it can bedone. (Alberto)













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Local, Global and the Space In-Between


The final topic to talk about briefly is the scale at which action is happening.

The focus in mission reports is often on local action or local challenges. (I acknowledge that this will be country-specific; dependingon where you live youll interact at different levels.) Edgeryders actions revolve around initiatives that strengthen communities,helping them re-engage and invest in the places they inhabit, leading to stronger forms of citizenship. What was interesting was thatalthough Edgeryders are demonstrably very mobile and willing to move around, there was a form of place embeddedness that kept afocus on acting locally and engaging people in immediate community, whether or not its ones home community.

However, while on the one hand there was a strong focus on acting locally, this was often in response to wider scale issues regionalor national, sometimes European, sometimes global. So Edgeryders are often making their contributions to large-scale social issuesby addressing them in their communities. In doing so, theyre making use of global networks communication and collaborationvia the internet.

And its here that in one sense Edgeryders actions are holding up a mirror to the institutions they are working around because itsusually a case of working around them, rather than working with or alongside them. While Edgeryders are demonstrably highlycompetent and innovative in their use of virtual spaces and digital tools for seeking collaborators, finding audiences, etc., oftentheir frustration with institutions stems from the fact that institutional engagement via these tools is far behind. Emilianoarticulates this really nicely when he says that government institutions in particular dont know Policy 2.0.

So perhaps theres something institutions could learn from Edgeryders use of these resources in order to offer better support foryoung peoples transitions, particularly when it comes to transparency and accountability.


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...if we want to change something wehave to start from our own environmenteven if the challenge is very hard toachieve. (Irene)








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The young people that would enter intopolitics, they are blocked andexploited.... And there are old politicalsthat haven't new knowledge and

relations with other European people.They don't know the new mediainstruments, internet and so and so...They don't know Policy2.0. (Emiliano)








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Framing the Transition Handbook

How can institutions be better allies for young people? What specifically should

they enable? At what scale(s) and through what processes?

What is needed most urgently? Funding for innovation? Paid work schemes?Better citizen engagement?

Are safety nets needed in some areas? Where? What would these look like? Isthis the place for more widespread co-operative approaches to resources?

Where is there wastage? What is being wasted?

To what extent do issues like healthcare, pensions, etc. feature in young peoplesdecisions about their futures?

How are young peoples moral resources informing their transitions? What couldwe take from this to drive wider cultural change?

What questions are you as Edgeryders left with after your participation in theplatform?


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