ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to contribute to theory on how agents make choices, by showing how the production of a meaningful self-identity is linked with the construction of external realities. It examines more closely how the moral requirements of individualism influenced the decisions made. The cultural resources available to these interviewees consisted of known “facts” about the world and “norms” about how to live in it. The repertoires of individualistic accountability that provide the cultural resources for better-off British women’s narratives of their employment decisions do allow “careerist” accounts, but women are required to demonstrate awareness that careers are in tension with family responsibilities. The chapter analyzes the processes of moral regulation in two non-standard households, to show how these employ the repertoires of individualism to legitimate decisions that are quite different from the ones that are accounted for by others adopting the same accountability framework.
