"I DONT REALLY LIKE THE MILL; IN FACT, I HATE THE MILL": Changing Youth Vocationalism Under Fordism and Post-Fordism in Powell River, British Columbia

Forest towns in British Columbia are in the throes of. a profound restructuring (Hayter 2000). The most recent turn of the screw, the US imposition of a 27% import tax on softwood lumber (May 2002), is only the latest twist in a twenty-year history scarred by volatility and industrial downsizing. Persistent job losses due to technological change, corporate rationalization, increased international competition, trade conflicts, and resource depletion have progressively undone the fabric of BC forest communities, especially on the coast. But while a plethora of policies, schemes, and programs have been initiated to help those worst affected, little attention has been paid to high school youth who have yet to enter the job market (Hay 1993 ; Barnes and Hayter 1992,1995a, and 1995b; Barnes, Hayter, and Hay 1999; Hayter 2000, 288-320; Egan and Klausen 1998). Historically, high school students'job expectations were directly tied to a buoyant resource economy, which, in turn, helped to define the culture of the resource town itself But in this era of economic downsizing and industrial restructuring, those expectations are increasingly frustrated. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the new economic reality of forest towns has influenced not only the expectations of high school students but also the content and philosophy of high school programs.