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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

186668

"I'm passionate, Lord Sugar"

young entrepreneurs, critical judgment, and emotional labor in young apprentice

Anita Biressi Heather Nunn

pp. 90-107

Abstract

This chapter is about the performance of passion for corporate success on popular television. It draws on the politics of "emotional labor" (Hochschild 1983) and work-related processes of 'self-realization" (Rose 1999 [1989]) to critically consider the competitive television show Young Apprentice (BBC1 2010–). In particular, we explore how Young Apprentice (formerly Junior Apprentice) stages a spectacle of judgment and censorious assessment of young people and their performance of leadership, zeal, and work commitment. Young people feature heavily in work-related British popular factual TV, appearing as applicants for business investment, entry-level jobbers, interns, and "unemployable" subjects in need of a life makeover. Shows such as Young Apprentice, Who Knows Best: Getting A Job (C4 2010), Up for Hire (BBC3 2011), Working Girls (BBC3 2011), and Hotel GB (C4 2012) are just a few examples of recent British programming that directs young people to perform as motivated, entrepreneurial, passionate, reliable, team-aware, and proactive workers. In this chapter we will explore how these performances meet current expectations of workplace culture and how workers are judged according to criteria that tie the individual into the agenda of the skills economy of the early 2000s.

Publication details

Published in:

Panse Silke, Rothermel Dennis (2014) A critique of judgment in film and television. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 90-107

DOI: 10.1057/9781137014184_4

Full citation:

Biressi Anita, Nunn Heather (2014) „"I'm passionate, Lord Sugar": young entrepreneurs, critical judgment, and emotional labor in young apprentice“, In: S. Panse & D. Rothermel (eds.), A critique of judgment in film and television, Dordrecht, Springer, 90–107.