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Being and selling yourself: Unemployment, employability and the limits of identity regulation

John Foster

Human Relations2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267261429839article
FT50AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Are there limits on what we can reasonably be asked to become? The concept of employability teaches the construction of new models of working identity – ones that emphasise personal traits and passions. It motivates recipients to become employable by ‘working’ on the self – such that a person’s identity becomes saleable on the job market. This article examines employability through its impact on those specifically asked to become employable – members of work clubs for the unemployed. Stemming from a 12-month, primarily ethnographic, study of unemployed experience, the article describes the nature of employability in practice and specifically the tensions experienced by long-term unemployed people who are repeatedly asked to manufacture a more employable version of themselves. Employability is assessed as a form of identity regulation which prompts individuals to construct themselves as continuously employable over time. The struggles surrounding this endeavour – as experienced by the unemployed research participants – point to the parameters and limits of identities specified within relations of power and the social consequences for those unable or unwilling to become what they are expected to be.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267261429839

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@article{john2026,
  title        = {{Being and selling yourself: Unemployment, employability and the limits of identity regulation}},
  author       = {John Foster},
  journal      = {Human Relations},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267261429839},
}

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Being and selling yourself: Unemployment, employability and the limits of identity regulation

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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