On the Nature of Human Resource Development: Holistic Agency and an Almost-Autoethnographical Exploration of Becoming [Hardcover]

The nature of human resource development (HRD) has been, and remains, a contested topic  the debate was sparked in part by Monica Lees seminal 2001 paper which refused to define the discipline of HRD, but has been accentuated by increasing globalization, political unrest, inequality and the erosion of boundaries. Should HRD now be seen as more than training, or a sub-function of large western bureaucracy? This book represents a very wide view of HRD: that it is at the core of our selves and our relationships, and that we continually co-create ourselves, our organisations and societies. These ideas are hung upon a model of Holistic Agency, and supported from sources as diverse as evolutionary psychology, science fiction, the challenges of transitional economies, and the structural uncertainties of contemporary society. Examining the tensions between self and other, agency and structure, the book draws inspiration from an almost-autoethnographic approach. This yields a text that is personal, entertaining, and easier to read than many academic tomes  yet considers the depth and development of the human condition, and locates HRD within that.

1. Introduction  Section 1: Being, Becoming, and Almost-Autoethnography  2. Defining HRD?  3. Evolutionary Roots and Holistic Agency  4. Fact, Fiction and Representation  5. Meaning and Methodological Choice  6. Meet the Author  Section 2: Aspects of Self  7. The Emergent Self  8. The Future Self  9. The Submerged Self  Section 3: Aspects of Other  10. Freedom and Choice  11. Decision Making and Hidden Others  12. Difference and Conflict Section 4: Aspects of Agency  13. Who is the Agent?  14. Agency and Impotence  15. The Isolation of Agency  Section 5: Al3�