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The Ideological, Theoretical, and Socio-Economic Context of Critical HRD: A Foundational Introduction

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce and overview the theoretical bases which inform a critical understanding of the ways in which social, political, and economic ideologies shape policy, practice, and experience. The chapter is designed around the fundamental notion that: ‘All employees should have access to and control on their developmental experiences and these opportunities should be available across a range of levels in the organization. Programs should not only challenge the performative bias of the organization but also help its members achieve success on their own terms’. (Bierema, Human Resource Development Review 8:91, 2009), as well as the central notion that to move forward meaningfully in the contemporary context, Critical Human Resource Development (CHRD) needs to further return to its humanistic origins as a scholarly mechanism of problematizing performativity, stimulating further critical ideologies for challenging ‘truth’, which, in turn, may stimulate renewed pragmatic orientation while maintaining critical integrity in the field.

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  1. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Emily Yarrow

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  1. Emily Yarrow
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Correspondence to Emily Yarrow .

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  1. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Joshua C. Collins

  2. Durham University Business School, Millhill Lane, Durham, UK

    Jamie L. Callahan

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Yarrow, E. (2023). The Ideological, Theoretical, and Socio-Economic Context of Critical HRD: A Foundational Introduction. In: Collins, J.C., Callahan, J.L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Human Resource Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10453-4_3

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