This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fenwick, T. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Toward a Critical HRD in Theory and Practice

University of Alberta

Drawing from critical management studies and critical pedagogy, this article proposes principles and practices to support the emerging critical human resource development (HRD) field as one stream among existing theories and practice of HRD. A critical HRD would challenge the subjugation of human knowledge, skills, and relationships to organizational or shareholder gain and focus on transforming workplaces and HRD practice toward justice, fairness, and equity. Because both HRD practices and critical perspectives themselves are so diverse, a critical HRD must be formulated in sufficiently broad terms to encourage a variety of conceptual developments including discursive, gendered, materialist, and anti-racist lines of analysis. Theoretical dilemmas of a critical HRD are discussed, such as ideological contradictions between the radical orientation of critical theory and the managerialist or performative frames to which much HRD practice is accountable. Possible configurations of a critical HRD are described, as these might play out in contexts of HRD practice.

Key Words: human resource development • critical pedagogy • critical management studies • workplace learning • emancipatory learning • reflexivity

Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3, 193-209 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0741713604263051


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. L. Bierema Critiquing Human Resource Development's Dominant Masculine Rationality and Evaluating Its Impact Human Resource Development Review, March 1, 2009; 8(1): 68 - 96. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. P. Githens and S. R. Aragon LGBT Employee Groups: Goals and Organizational Structures Advances in Developing Human Resources, February 1, 2009; 11(1): 121 - 135. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. S. Rocco, H. Landorf, and A. Delgado Framing the Issue/Framing the Question: A Proposed Framework for Organizational Perspectives on Sexual Minorities Advances in Developing Human Resources, February 1, 2009; 11(1): 7 - 23. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. A. Raelin Emancipatory Discourse and Liberation Management Learning, November 1, 2008; 39(5): 519 - 540. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Francis Discursive Struggle and the Ambiguous World of HRD Advances in Developing Human Resources, February 1, 2007; 9(1): 83 - 96. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. D. Brookfield, T. Kalliath, and M. Laiken Exploring the Connections between Adult and Management Education Journal of Management Education, December 1, 2006; 30(6): 828 - 839. [Abstract] [PDF]