Career guidance and social justice in the encounter between caste and neoliberalism in India

Abstract

In an era of economic liberalism, career guidance (CG) should be focusing on informed choice, self-directed behaviour, class mobility and the compatibility between individual’s careers and their aptitudes. A primordial system like caste should have become irrelevant to the process and purpose of CG. However, caste continues to influence individual choices, educational and employment opportunities and aspirations in contemporary India. CG as a profession therefore needs to contend with caste, recognise the role that it plays in fostering and maintaining inequalities in the distribution of wealth and develop perspectives, methods and strategies to facilitate inclusion and social justice. In this chapter, the relationship between economic liberalism, caste and career guidance is examined and the tensions between social justice and livelihoods are explored. Against this backdrop, the challenges and opportunities for CG are identified with specific reference to inequalities in education and employment, the rise of social conservatism and the primacy of the family. The chapter ends with suggestions and ways forward for CG to mitigate exclusion and injustice.