Situating Vocationalism

Abstract

The approaches taken to the analysis of vocationalism within the sociology of education have been dominated by the concept of the New Right and have operated within a dominant strong‐state/free market paradigm based upon an analysis of the Thatcherite project. I argue that vocationalist ideologies should be more properly linked to an emerging ‘statist’ model of capitalism in which the state intervenes to create the conditions for greater international competitiveness. However neither this, nor other legitimations of vocationalism in terms of its supposed Jit’ with a new post‐fordist economy, can be seen to cany complete conviction.