Post-school dilemmas in diminished society - Working-class mothers’ perspectives of choices and realities in their communities

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran

This paper examines post-school options and opportunities in contemporary Australia through interviews with working-class mothers living in growth-corridor suburbs in Melbourne’s outer west. It analyzes structural and systemic injustices shaping what education can realistically enable, drawing on Berlant’s “cruel optimism” to explore how “diminished society” and collective community are promised through education. It argues that neoliberal policy and ideology normalise individual responsibility, eroding collective responsibility and constraining youths’ future aspirations under economic and social pressure.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Concept of diminished society

Social class constraints in school pathways

Neoliberal policy context and individual responsibility

Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 63, Number 2, July 2023 Post-school dilemmas in diminished society: Working-class mothers’ perspectives of choices and realities in their communities Piper Rodd Deakin University Kellie Sanders Latrobe University This paper provides insight into working-class parents’views of the structural and systemic injustices shaping post-school options and opportunities in contemporary Australia, drawing on interview data with a group of mothers living in growth corridor suburbs in the outer west of Melbourne. Illustrating aspects of Berlant’s (2011) notion of “cruel optimism”, the paper examines the concepts of diminished society and collective community afforded by success through education, an aspiration and achievement unequal among young Australians. As Reay (2017) argues, an ideological narrative that positions individuals as being responsible for their own achievement through education sets many up to fail. This paper gives voice to the lived experiences of this individual responsibilitisation. We draw on elements of Marxist analysis, a subset of critical theory, whereby economic circumstances are the basis upon which political and Post-school dilemmas in diminished society: 141 Working-class mothers’perspectives of choices and realities in their communities ideological realities are built, critiquing the ways in which neoliberal social and economic policy and ideology are normalised (Tyson, 2015). Keywords: youth, post-school pathways, social class, parenting Introduction This paper explores the concept of diminished society as illustrated by the experiences of those living, working and putting their kids through school in two localised communities in outer-suburban Melbourne.It draws on research from a project that investigated local perceptions of the value and costs of post-school education and training for residents of two adjacent communities often characterised by their intersectional socio-economic disadvantage and cultural complexity.This research sought to learn from community members what factors they saw as informing the pursuit of these post-school options.The factors they described might be broadly categorised as social, geographical, economic and cultural impediments or enablers.Put another way, one of the notable themes that emerged from interviews with parents, was an awareness of distinct social class constraints, a strong belief that not all paths into, through and out of school were equal. While the project canvassed the views of an array of community members who self-identified as having an interest in contexts of postschool training and education in the area, this paper discusses in depth the responses of only one of these participant groups, parents, or, more precisely, mothers.What these mothers described of their day-to-day lives illustrates the increasing pressures and stresses-the affective experience-of contemporary working-class life as the omnipresent backdrop of their lives, informing their ideas of what they imagined possible or achievable for their children as they exited school.Indeed, all mothers self-identified as working-class. Such a clearly stated social class positioning is notable in contemporary Australia in which traditional class distinctions have become obliterated by decades of neoliberal mythology positioning us allas an amorphous and vaguely defined middle-class (see for instance, Threadgold & Gerrard 2022; Paternoster 2017; Sheppard & Biddle 2017).Describing her frustration with the government, for example, one mother explained,“working- 142 Piper Roddand Kellie Sanders class people get squat…sometimes I think I’d be better off unemployed”(Anne) while another stated,“working-class people get forgotten”(Karen).An awareness of social inequality and the lived experience of its injustice is articulated powerfully by both these mothers. This paper positions this data within a socio-political context of neoliberal pol

FAQs

What does the paper investigate about post-school options in Australia?

It investigates how structural and systemic injustices shape working-class parents’ understanding of post-school choices and opportunities, based on mothers’ interview accounts.

How does the paper apply Berlant’s concept of “cruel optimism”?

It uses “cruel optimism” to explain how education success can be viewed as promising collective community, even as inequality and diminished prospects persist.

What does the research conclude about education and young people’s futures?

It argues that education cannot compensate for broader societal lack, and that neoliberal narratives and pressures limit aspirations, especially for post-school higher education and training.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran