Careers and Freedom

A thought-provoking, multi-disciplinary approach to career guidance, in which Professor Robertson applies the principles of the Capability Approach to develop a radical new career theory supporting individuals to make choices that will enhance their lives. ‘Careers and Freedom offers us an original and exciting perspective on careers and career guidance, which should be integrated into the theoretical canon of the field.' Professor Tristram Hooley This is a book about career theory; it addresses concepts to describe people’s careers. Significantly, it enhances career development practice to support individuals to make informed choices and further their lives. It is inspired by the Capability Approach, a moral framework developed by Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen, which addresses issues of social justice, freedom and wellbeing. Professor Robertson draws on systems thinking and innovatively applies it to career development. He develops a way of thinking that promotes a ‘big picture’ overview of careers, which, in turn, facilitates an understanding of the full range of helping strategies open to practitioners. The result is a theory designed to support practitioners’ understanding; not an approach that exists solely to further academic discourse. Additional insights and perspectives from the disciplines of economics, philosophy and politics will ensure that this becomes a foundational text and will provide a major and long-lasting contribution to scholarship in this field.