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A Study of Career Self-Help Discourse on Employment Insecurity in the U.S.

고용 불안에 관한 미국 커리어 자기계발 담론의 고찰

  • Joo, Jeong-Suk (Department of International Trade, Jungwon University)
  • 주정숙 (중원대학교 국제통상학과)
  • Received : 2019.08.29
  • Accepted : 2019.11.20
  • Published : 2019.11.28

Abstract

This paper examines career self-help advice as one of the important channels that offers converged information, as well as influences popular perception, on white-collar labor market changes in the U.S. In this regard, the paper critically looks at career self-help advice by examining its discourses on the shift to white-collar employment insecurity as well as their problems. It especially focuses on a few of the leading career self-help books as an exemplary case, showing that they urge people to readily embrace the rise of precarious employment by presenting it as an inevitable as well as positive and empowering development. The paper also explores the problems with such accounts, showing how they foremost serve the needs of corporations seeking workplace changes.

본 논문은 미국 화이트칼라 노동시장의 변화에 대한 융합 정보를 제공하고 대중적 인식에 영향을 미치는 중요한 매체들 중 하나로써 커리어 자기계발 조언을 고찰한다. 이에 본 논문은 특히 커리어 자기계발 조언이 1980년대 이래 점차 일반화되어 온 미국 화이트칼라 고용 불안의 문제를 어떻게 다루고 있으며 그 문제점은 무엇인지를 비판적으로 살펴본다. 논문은 대표적인 커리어 조언서 및 자기계발서들의 고찰을 통해 이 문제를 고찰하고 이들이 화이트칼라 노동자들의 고용 불안을 불가피한 것으로 제시하며 이를 긍정적인 변화로 받아들이도록 조언하고 있음을 보여준다. 또한 이의 문제점으로 고용 불안에 관한 커리어 자기계발 담론이 어떻게 기업의 필요에 부합하는지를 살펴본다.

Keywords

References

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