Paikka, päivänkulku ja kohtaaminen: Korkeakoulutettujen arki työmarkkinamarginaalissa

Since the 1990s, changes in working life and labor market have emerged as a topic in public discussion. Such changes have led, for example, to increased uncertainty of work, i.a. in the field of higher education. Although statistically education is beneficial, for individuals getting into the labor market may be a challenge. Therefore, many of the highly educated live their everyday life in the margins of the labor market. In my dissertation I focus on the everyday routines, experiences of places, and encounters of the highly educated who are in the margins of the labor market. My analytical starting point is the everyday life-sphere, which is defined through the concept of place. By the everyday life-sphere, I mean the geographical and social ensemble of everyday places where individuals live their life. By place, I mean a site that is composed of material and social structures and sense of place, i.e., an individual understanding and way of seeing a place. My research questions in this dissertation are: 1. How is the everyday life of the highly educated presented in their stories of places and of the life-sphere? 2. What kinds of everyday routines create the experienced everyday life of the highly educated in the margins of the labor market? 3. How do encounters construct the everyday life of the highly educated in the margins of the labor market? The research included 12 highly educated participants who were, although able to work, unemployed job-seekers, or they were in the labor market trainings or out- side the labor market for some other reason. The data includes narrative thematic interviews, sense of place maps and related interviews and mobile photographic interviews. The everyday life of the highly educated in the margins of the labor market is lived partly in similar places as that of work-goers. Home as a central place of every- day life is a special but contradictory place containing all emotions. It is lived through and experienced as both an inclusive prison and a pleasant haven. The domestic everyday life is about sharing and negotiating of meanings between the dwellers. There exists some fear of losing places in the margins of the labor market. What differs from the everyday life of work-goers is the flexibility of schedules regarding going to and being in places, and the emphasis of places connected to employment policy. The everyday routine is formed through transitions, phases, rhythms and tempos. The everyday routine is structured through three modes: Rhythmic day, “stunt lane of everyday” and “mañana-going”. In a rhythmic day, things are going as preferred and in an ideal way. This is when the workday rhythms are followed. In the ”stunt lane of everyday”, the phases of the day make the rhythm more complicated and/or accelerate the tempo in transitions. In “mañana-going”, transitions disappear, phases merge and the tempo may slow down. I examine the encounters though three modes of encounters. These are encounters related to a connection, encounters seeking a connection and encounters with- out a connection. An encounter related to a connection means a flowing, ready-to- hand encounter that is immersive in everyday life. An encounter seeking a connection is an un-ready-to-hand encounter, where the connection is formed through an exploration of the situation. In an encounter without a connection, the connection cannot be built up and the lack of interaction or attachment is noticed. My dissertation shows that being in the margins of the labor market becomes more visible the more the routines of working life continue to define the everyday. This is similar to how places are recognized in everyday life, especially, when the sense of place is constructed in social relations and in action. I argue that the experiences of places have changing effects on the practices, which shape the everyday life-sphere. When living the socio-spatial everyday life, the relationship between the labor market and a person who is in the margins of the labor market is also built. Therefore, from the point of view of my research, the encounters on the boundary between the labor market and the margins of the labor market have been considered analytically important. With regard to highly educated in the margins of the labor market, more attention should be paid in future research to the experience of places in everyday life, the formation of the everyday routine, and encounters during the ongoing employment service renewals and development of policy practices.