Global Work-Related Suffering as a Priority for Vocational Psychology

Abstract

Building on the recommendations in the article “An Emancipatory Communitarian Approach to Vocational Development Theory, Research, and Practice” by David Blustein, Ellen McWhirter, and Justin Perry, a critical and global perspective on the challenge facing vocational psychologists who adopt an emancipatory communitarian approach is developed. Attention to the most pressing needs of the global unemployed and working poor will be critical. Most psychologists already possess the skill sets that are required, but the roles will change from work that primarily sustains current socioeconomic systems to work that challenges the globalization of corporate consumerism through an insistence on participatory democracy in the work settings and the defense of the human rights of workers.

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