Preliminary Reflections on the Discourse and the Practice of ‘Global Human Resources’ in Japan

Abstract

As economic competition expands its scale to a global level, Japan has made an effort in cultivating Global Human Resources (GHR) to enhance its competence in the global market. The discourse of GHR emphasizes communicative English ability,generic skills, and a certain Japanese identity, which is shared in the enterprise and education fields. In addition, the practice of GHR focuses on increasing the opportunity of cross-cultural communication. However, a case study of a Nigerian linguistic minority shows the discourse and practice of GHR does not always realize what it promises. The reason for this failure can be observed in the conflict between a modernist idea, where language and nation are regarded as fixed, and the postmodern reality, where language and nation are dynamic. This study thus calls for a reflection on both the discourse and practice of GHR.