title: Normalising global neo-liberalism and workplace change through career management and development discourse: a New Zealand case study

authors: Dyer, Suzette L.

abstract: Critical theorists call for the denaturalisation of complex processes within society that render individuals unconscious to particular forms of power and domination. They promote resistance and transformation based on liberatory aspirations for humanity. I have explored the extent to which contemporary career discourse facilitates and entrenches the dominant and powerful interests of multinational corporations and some nations. The contemporary construction of career can be seen as historically embedded in the concomitant discourses of flexibility and global neo-liberalism.

My literature review indicated that much of the contemporary economic, organisational, and career literatures promote global neo-liberalism and organisational and labour flexibility as contributing to greater prosperity for all. Early critics and subsequent commentators have pointed to the associated outcomes of over-, under-, and unemployment and downward pressure on wages and conditions of employment. Such outcomes have exacerbated the disparities for women and indigenous peoples. These disparate outcomes are deemed contradictory to the liberation and inclusiveness principles aspired to by democratic societies. There is growing interest in the possibility of harnessing career concepts and processes to facilitate desired changes in the processes and accountabilities of employment. Governments in diverse nations have created complex institutional links between employment and welfare institutions and hired career experts to intervene in the career planning of citizens. This intervention draws upon contemporary career constructs where it is assumed that individuals can and ought to take responsibility for managing their careers, themselves, and their family. This allocation of responsibility is typically bereft of political analysis and becomes problematic for vulnerable groups and for the principle of inclusiveness in a context that celebrates efficiency gains through downward pressure on income and employment conditions and creates employment insecurity for many people.

The empirical work for this thesis was designed to investigate my analysis of the co-emergence of the discourses of global neo-liberalism and organisational and labour flexibility and the contemporary discourses of career. Career Services rapuara was chosen as an instrumental case study (Stake, 1998). This organisation is a government sponsored career agency in New Zealand charged with providing career services to facilitate increased personal responsibility for career planning in an increasingly insecure employment market. Partial ethnographic method (Alvesson and Deetz, 2000) was used to frame material collection. Records and documents were reviewed, and interviews with staff were conducted to gain an understanding of the organisation. Two career guidance sessions with unemployed adults were observed to understand career intervention techniques. These participants were then interviewed to gain understanding of their perceptions of the career session.

Both neo-liberals and critical theorists promote a commitment to human liberation. Neo-liberals suggest this liberation occurs through the unconstrained activities of the markets. My study supports the view of critical theorists that the seemingly natural processes of markets are complex nexus of power and control. The uncritical use of contemporary career theories, concepts, and practices naturalises and upholds these powerful and dominant relationships. A critical transformation of the discourses of globalisation, flexibility, and career based on genuine human liberation, empowerment and participation is called for to resist the dominant and powerful interests of society.

text: Normalising global neo-liberalism and workplace change through career management and development discourse: a New Zealand case study Critical theorists call for the denaturalisation of complex processes within society that render individuals unconscious to particular forms of power and domination. They promote resistance and transformation based on liberatory aspirations for humanity. I have explored the extent to which contemporary career discourse facilitates and entrenches the dominant and powerful interests of multinational corporations and some nations. The contemporary construction of career can be seen as historically embedded in the concomitant discourses of flexibility and global neo-liberalism.

My literature review indicated that much of the contemporary economic, organisational, and career literatures promote global neo-liberalism and organisational and labour flexibility as contributing to greater prosperity for all. Early critics and subsequent commentators have pointed to the associated outcomes of over-, under-, and unemployment and downward pressure on wages and conditions of employment. Such outcomes have exacerbated the disparities for women and indigenous peoples. These disparate outcomes are deemed contradictory to the liberation and inclusiveness principles aspired to by democratic societies. There is growing interest in the possibility of harnessing career concepts and processes to facilitate desired changes in the processes and accountabilities of employment. Governments in diverse nations have created complex institutional links between employment and welfare institutions and hired career experts to intervene in the career planning of citizens. This intervention draws upon contemporary career constructs where it is assumed that individuals can and ought to take responsibility for managing their careers, themselves, and their family. This allocation of responsibility is typically bereft of political analysis and becomes problematic for vulnerable groups and for the principle of inclusiveness in a context that celebrates efficiency gains through downward pressure on income and employment conditions and creates employment insecurity for many people.

The empirical work for this thesis was designed to investigate my analysis of the co-emergence of the discourses of global neo-liberalism and organisational and labour flexibility and the contemporary discourses of career. Career Services rapuara was chosen as an instrumental case study (Stake, 1998). This organisation is a government sponsored career agency in New Zealand charged with providing career services to facilitate increased personal responsibility for career planning in an increasingly insecure employment market. Partial ethnographic method (Alvesson and Deetz, 2000) was used to frame material collection. Records and documents were reviewed, and interviews with staff were conducted to gain an understanding of the organisation. Two career guidance sessions with unemployed adults were observed to understand career intervention techniques. These participants were then interviewed to gain understanding of their perceptions of the career session.

Both neo-liberals and critical theorists promote a commitment to human liberation. Neo-liberals suggest this liberation occurs through the unconstrained activities of the markets. My study supports the view of critical theorists that the seemingly natural processes of markets are complex nexus of power and control. The uncritical use of contemporary career theories, concepts, and practices naturalises and upholds these powerful and dominant relationships. A critical transformation of the discourses of globalisation, flexibility, and career based on genuine human liberation, empowerment and participation is called for to resist the dominant and powerful interests of society.

year: 2003

title: Position and perspective: Research connections and tensions in a kindergarten community

authors: Kelly-Ware, Janette Patricia

abstract: There are many stories worthy of telling in early childhood education research, and multiple perspectives to consider and critique in the processes of research, including children’s perspectives and positioning. Acknowledging position and perspective increases my awareness as a researcher of my relationship to what is being researched, how I create the subject that I am studying, and how I construct the knowledge of that subject. An increasing consciousness of the importance and relevance of reflexivity and how I stage the text are among the results of this exploration of research connections and tensions in a kindergarten community.

text: Position and perspective: Research connections and tensions in a kindergarten community There are many stories worthy of telling in early childhood education research, and multiple perspectives to consider and critique in the processes of research, including children’s perspectives and positioning. Acknowledging position and perspective increases my awareness as a researcher of my relationship to what is being researched, how I create the subject that I am studying, and how I construct the knowledge of that subject. An increasing consciousness of the importance and relevance of reflexivity and how I stage the text are among the results of this exploration of research connections and tensions in a kindergarten community.

year: 2019

title: Kua Tupu Te Pā Harakeke: Developing Healthy Whānau Relationships

authors: Pihama, Leonie

abstract: We have opened this chapter with our ‘pēpeha’. Pēpeha are ways through which our people introduce ourselves. These vary from tribe to tribe. The essence of pēpeha is that they link us to our tribes and all associated with that. Our mountains, our rivers, our canoes, our ancestral lines. It links us to each other. It places us, as Māori, within a wider collective consciousness and relationships. It is important to highlight that the term ‘Māori’ is a term that brings us as tribal peoples together. It is a term that our people have chosen to use as a means of unifying ourselves in the wake of the arrival of our colonizers. Prior to colonization all identification was done through our whānau (extended family structure), hapū (subtribes) or iwi (tribes). The term Māori means to be ‘normal’ or ‘pure’, as such it is a fitting term for an Indigenous People. We have, however, also been active in maintaining our hapū and iwi identities and it is through pēpeha that we can culturally share that identity with each other. Our people have been doing this for generations. And in spite of colonization seeking to undermine our cultural identity, many of us continue to do this.

text: Kua Tupu Te Pā Harakeke: Developing Healthy Whānau Relationships We have opened this chapter with our ‘pēpeha’. Pēpeha are ways through which our people introduce ourselves. These vary from tribe to tribe. The essence of pēpeha is that they link us to our tribes and all associated with that. Our mountains, our rivers, our canoes, our ancestral lines. It links us to each other. It places us, as Māori, within a wider collective consciousness and relationships. It is important to highlight that the term ‘Māori’ is a term that brings us as tribal peoples together. It is a term that our people have chosen to use as a means of unifying ourselves in the wake of the arrival of our colonizers. Prior to colonization all identification was done through our whānau (extended family structure), hapū (subtribes) or iwi (tribes). The term Māori means to be ‘normal’ or ‘pure’, as such it is a fitting term for an Indigenous People. We have, however, also been active in maintaining our hapū and iwi identities and it is through pēpeha that we can culturally share that identity with each other. Our people have been doing this for generations. And in spite of colonization seeking to undermine our cultural identity, many of us continue to do this.

year: 2012