Edinburgh Napier University

  This paper argues for a new perspective on guidance and life planning that is informed, but not dominated, by pre-existing Western conceptions of career. Two scholars are highlighted as providing potential foundations for a new approach. Firstly, the critical realism of Roy Bhaskar provides a challenge to the dominant paradigms underpinning the social sciences. Secondly, the capability approach of Amartya Sen provides an alternative to individualistic notions of employability and career management. Whilst the work of Bhaskar and Sen is very different, there are some commonalities. Both are pragmatic, concerned with justice, and allow considerable freedom in the application of their ideas to specific contexts. They have potential for stimulating new approaches to career development pertinent to the needs of rapidly developing economies.