Introduction: Vocational Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Education and Employment in a Post-Work Age

The introductory chapter provides an overview and signals the wide-ranging arguments the book addresses. It explores key terms, in particular Industrie 4.0 and the fourth Industrial Revolution (4th IR), examining the origins of the terms and their mobilisation. The 4th IR encompasses more than a narrow focus on advanced manufacturing; consequently this chapter includes discussions of post-work, Marxism and Italian Workerism which offer different understandings of the ideological and socio-economic context of the 4th IR to that found in policy and consultancy documents. Importantly, the chapter discusses vocational education and training and allied conceptualisations of skill. These arguments are related to the labour market and questions of class, gender and regional variations not only in Europe but also in low- and middle-income countries.