Rousseau’s chains: Striving for greater social justice through emancipatory career guidance

Abstract

Drawing on a typology proposed by social philosopher Jürgen Habermas, this article outlines the way career theory, practice and research can be informed by technocratic, hermeneutic, and emancipatory rationalities. The paper builds on this typology by considering Tony Watts’ analysis of the socio-political ideologies underpinning career guidance, showing how, despite the in-built tendency for some models to be more socially reproductive in scope, all approaches can engage with emancipatory forms of practice. The paper echoes Watts’ observation that career practitioners cannot avoid the inherently normative and political nature of their interventions in people’s lives, a fact that calls for a fundamental commitment to promoting social justice.