Young women's everyday lives :home and work in the North East of Englan

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the everyday home and working lives of a group of twenty-one young women living in former mining regions in County Durham. Through an analysis of the women’s everyday lives, in particular their experiences of paid and unpaid work, I explore what it means for these women to be a young woman today. Based on in- depth interviews this thesis is concerned with the process of gendering in everyday life, in particular how the everyday work women do is key in the construction and (re)production of classed gender identities. Drawing on a performative understanding of gender (Butler 1990, Goffman 1969) combined with a recognition of the importance class plays both materially and culturally on the women’s lives (Bradley 2007, Fraser 1998, Jackson 1998, McNay 1999, 2000, 2004), I argue that work is key in the construction of the women’s identities, subjectivities and everyday life. Throughout the thesis I demonstrate the key role work plays in the women’s everyday lives and as such I argue for the continued importance of the Sociology of Work in a climate where the study of work has become less central, having being pushed aside by other sociological concerns (Halford & Strangleman 2009). In order that work remains relevant in the discipline, Halford & Strangleman suggest the need for a reintegration of the study of work with other sociological agendas. This thesis is one such attempt at this.