‘Investment in Me’: Uncertain Futures and Debt in the Intern Economy

摘要: This chapter examines intern experiences in the publishing and journalism industries Toronto, Canada. Presenting findings from ethnographic fieldwork, shows how promissory value of meaningful work as an investment interns' skills networks facilitates self-exploitation despite low or no wages. Interns recognise, however, that only privileged can afford unpaid internships. Here, privilege is not necessarily constituted through secure employment certain futures, but rather differential access to opportunities for self-appreciation. The paper thus argues internships exacerbate inequalities perpetuated by individualization, (re)privatization, financialisation social reproduction under neoliberal post-Fordism, which intensifies reliance on family resources, also debt.