Vulnerability and the neo-liberal youth citizen: A view from Australia

Abstract

This article develops a critical discourse analysis of Australian youth and community policies, examined through a discussion of theoretical debates about citizenship and vulnerability. Informed by a Foucauldian genealogical approach, it explores citizenship, not in terms of rights and universal categories, but in terms of relational, situated and dividing practices. Two major relationships are examined: the relationship between local communities and citizens, including the relationship between space and citizenship; and the relational construction of virtuous and vulnerable citizens. Vulnerability can refer to negative difference and weakness and it can denote a compassionate disposition an..