Suchergebnisse

This article studies how return migration aspirations are formed and realized in the context of protracted displacement. Drawing on a mixed-methods study that included survey research and in-depth interviews in Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria conducted, we study whether respondents aspired to return (i) currently, with the conflict still ongoing; and (ii) in the future, if the war were to end. Our analyses reveal how broader life aspirations play a crucial role in shaping return aspirations, and how current and future return aspirations are separate concepts. Current return aspirations were strongly stratified. For economically vulnerable respondents, current return considerations were often related to survival, whereas for respondents from the educated middle class, current return aspirations were part of their broader life aspirations. Aspirations to return after the war's end were largely driven by a wish to realize broader life goals. Future return aspirations often functioned as a mental coping strategy to keep hope for change in the future — including political change — alive. Return abilities favored those with higher socioeconomic status, those who had remained neutral in the conflict and those willing to take high risks. Overall, our analyses illustrate the usefulness of the aspirations-abilities framework, and the important role of life aspirations, in understanding return-migration decisions in a context of protracted displacement.

Jugendliche entwickeln ihre beruflichen Pläne und Erwartungen in Interaktion mit signifikanten Anderen in den sozialen Kontexten, in denen sie sich bewegen. Innerhalb gleicher institutioneller Gelegenheitsstrukturen sind regionale Arbeitsmärkte wichtige sozialräumliche Kontexte, die über das unmittelbare Umfeld der Familie, der Schule oder der Nachbarschaft hinaus die Entwicklung von beruflichen Aspirationen bedingen. In unserem Beitrag untersuchen wir die Relevanz der regionalen Berufsstruktur, d.h. der Präsenz von unterschiedlichen Berufen auf dem regionalen Arbeitsmarkt, für die Berufswahl von nichtstudienberechtigten Jugendlichen in Deutschland. Unsere Ergebnisse basieren auf Daten der Startkohorte 4 des Nationalen Bildungspanels, die wir um beruflich-regionale Indikatoren auf Grundlage administrativer Statistiken der Bundesagentur für Arbeit ergänzen. Anhand von konditionalen logistischen Regressionsmodellen zeigen wir, dass sich die Jugendlichen in ihren beruflichen Aspirationen am Ende der Schulzeit an den Berufen der Erwerbstätigen in ihrer Region orientieren: Je höher der Anteil eines Berufs an der regionalen Berufsstruktur ist, desto wahrscheinlicher ist es, dass Jugendliche diesen Beruf aspirieren. Dieser Zusammenhang wird nicht über das berufliche Prestige oder die Geschlechterkomposition des Berufs moderiert. Unser Beitrag macht somit deutlich, dass die Wahl eines Berufs - und damit auch die mit dieser Wahl einhergehenden ungleichen längerfristigen Erwerbs- und Lebensbedingungen - zu einem gewissen Grad "per Lotterie" über den Wohnort im Jugendalter bestimmt werden.

Aspiration is an essential component of politics. It articulates goals, affirms identities and values, and structures action at all levels of social life. Yet political scientists have spent little time theorizing aspiration—what it is, how it relates to other concepts, and the kinds of effects it creates. In this article, we develop the concept theoretically and argue that aspiration creates a distinct "aspirational politics" that differs from our international relations models of both norm-driven social activism and interest-driven rational choice. We identify three core features of aspiration that undergird its theoretical utility: lofty goals, change over time, and transformation through imagination. In the hands of skilled political actors, aspiration does essential work in both facilitating agreement and mobilizing social action that create change in the world. However, aspiration also has a dark side and can be manipulated to dodge accountability, postpone action, and serve private, rather than public, goals.

Gordon Brown has claimed that encouraging individual aspiration is a key goal of his Government. But what does that mean? Here Jean Edelstein argues that, in a world in which achievement is measured largely in terms of acquisition and consumer culture, Brown's agenda needs to be rethought.

A 2‐page questionnaire dealing with career aspirations and expectations was administered to undergraduates at four institutions, of which two were women's colleges and two were universities. Results suggest that Black women as a group predict that they will be earning less than Black males; white women as a group predict that they will be earning less than white men but the pay gap is narrower. While some employers may believe that Black women enjoy a special advantage in the job market, students who are Black and female do not, it seems, share that optimism.