Labour activation policies and the seriousness of simulated work

Labour activation is an integral part of neo-liberal policies that attempt to tackle the problem of employment and employability in the context of the drastically changing institution of work. Reflecting the difficulty of sustaining old frameworks, labour activation, as this ethnography reveals, is anchored in circles of simulative performances of employability and work. People's motivations to work blur the boundaries between the 'simulative' and the 'real' and performances of the seriousness of work are turned into serious acts of work. This fuels activation programmes in particular and nourishes neo-liberal doctrine in general. But where does it leave the actors themselves?