ARTICLE 1 : A DISCOURSE APPROACH TO THEORISING HRD: OPENING A DISCURSIVE SPACE
The above mentioned article was written by a group of scholars namely Aileen Lawless (Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK), Sally Sambrook (Bangor University, Bangor, UK), Tom Garavan (Limerick University, Limerick, Ireland) and Claire Valentin (Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, UK). The article was published online and is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0309-0590.htm since the year 2010.
1.1. Introduction
Increasingly, language and language use is being understood as the most important phenomenon accessible for empirical investigation in social science research (Alvesson and Karreman, 2000). Consequently, discourse has become a fashionable word. In some cases underlying the use of the word “discourse” is the general idea that language is structured according to different patterns that people’s utterances follow when they take part in different domains of social life (Phillips and Jorgensen, 2002). Discourse analysis represents an extensive area of contemporary debate and research that crosses linguistic, literary and communication arenas. It focuses not only on the words or the text, but it also examines the micro processes and nuances used when academics and practitioners talk about a field of practice. It brings to bear a set of fundamental assumptions concerning the nature of language and reality and in particular the way a practice is constructed through social interaction in particular contexts.
1.2. Research Problems and Objectives
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a discourse approach to theorising human resource development (HRD) can open a “discursive space” to challenge dominant discourses within the field; enabling a more critical discourse to emerge. Discourse analysis is rarely discussed in business settings despite the evidence that applied discourse analysis focuses on questions that are of relevance to the field. This paper contributes to...