Manufacturing Citizens

Foucault's governmentality framework perceives the policy process as one of steering citizens into uncontroversial behaviors. This article argues that the call to create a "Big Society" of volunteering and engagement in the UK is a natural extension of such governmental practices. Drawing on qualitative interviews with volunteering professionals in England, the article analyzes the creation and implementation of youth volunteering policy, asking to what extent such policies can be an effective tool through which to instill Britain's youth with a sense of responsibility and whether indeed that is a deliverable aim. The article shows that social class divisions and the increasingly pressurized lives of young people hamper the take-up and effectiveness of volunteering policy. It concludes that volunteering has been conceptualized and delivered as a pathway to employment, leaving increased responsibility as a nebulous concept in the lives of young volunteers.