The gap between theory and context as a generator of social injustice : seeking to confront social inequality in Brazil through career guidance

Abstract

This chapter aims to discuss the gap between theory and context in the career guidance field in the global South. To do this it will analyse the concepts and theories governing the field in the global South using the case study of Brazil. This chapter explores how importing decontextualised theories, concepts and practices from other countries into career guidance in Brazil has maintaining the status quo and supported neoliberal agendas and diminished the field’s capacity to tackle social injustice. Career guidance in Brazil is marked by an incongruity between theories and practices. In general, career guidance in the country has a more individualistic focus, despite a predominance of group work, and the practitioners’ focus is on the individual, and not on the collective or on social relations. It is aimed largely at the middle and upper classes in a country which is marked by social inequality and increasingly precarious careers (Ribeiro, Uvaldo, & Silva, 2015). However, there are practical examples of career guidance interventions in Brazil that go beyond importing theories. These are mainly based on historical and dialectical materialism (Bock & Bock, 2005), critical psychoanalysis (Bohoslavsky, 1983; Rascován, 2005) and social constructionism (Ribeiro, 2016). These approaches are not in line with neoliberal interests. We have proposed some principles and guidelines for a theoreticaltechnical framework for career guidance. This framework considers the diversity of experiences and contexts in Brazil. It is our aim to contribute to confronting inequality and social injustice, as well as neoliberal agendas, instead of perpetuating them. This chapter is an improvement to the proposals discussed by Fonçatti (2016), Ribeiro (2016), and Silva, Paiva, and Ribeiro (2016). This proposal is not only relevant to Brazil; it has rather been created to build a theoretical-technical framework which can allow for the inclusion of context in the theories and practices of career guidance, that is, ‘building theory in context’. Therefore, we believe that it has the potential to be used in varied contexts around the world.