This article analyzes how young adults draw on cultural resources to understand their identities, aspirations, and goals when taken-for-granted scripts of success are perceived as less desirable or achievable. Drawing on pragmatism, we propose the concept of 'plausible futures' to capture how people rearrange elements within cultural repertoires as a practical and moral project to define their identities, aspirations, and goals. We draw on interviews with 80 college students concerning how they understand their future aspirations, including how they define personal success and broader social goals, when they face unpredictability in, and dissatisfaction with, achieving dominant meritocratic and socioeconomic ideals. We find that respondents combine elements from four cultural repertoires to work toward and envision their future: the American dream and neoliberalism, the therapeutic culture, ordinary cosmopolitanisms, and a 'Gen Z' cohort narrative. The combining of elements from each repertoire enables a hybrid set of cultural tools that hold to tenets of hard work and self-reliance while accommodating the quest for greater recognition and inclusion. We show that respondents combine cultural elements based on their ability to connect elements to futures perceived as viable and valuable.

中文翻译：

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重建一个可能的未来：在动荡的时代结合文化曲目

本文分析了当理所当然的成功脚本被认为不太理想或无法实现时，年轻人如何利用文化资源来理解他们的身份、抱负和目标。借鉴实用主义，我们提出“似是而非的未来”的概念，以捕捉人们如何重新安排文化曲目中的元素，作为一个实用和道德的项目来定义他们的身份、愿望和目标。我们对 80 名大学生进行了采访，了解他们如何理解自己的未来抱负，包括他们如何定义个人成功和更广泛的社会目标，当他们在实现占主导地位的精英和社会经济理想时面临不可预测性和不满时。我们发现受访者结合了四种文化的元素来努力和展望他们的未来：美国梦和新自由主义、治疗文化、普通世界主义和“Z 世代”群体叙事。将每个曲目中的元素结合起来，形成了一套混合的文化工具，这些工具坚持努力工作和自力更生的原则，同时满足对更大认可和包容性的追求。我们表明，受访者根据他们将元素与被认为可行且有价值的未来联系起来的能力来组合文化元素。