O fazer coach na contemporaneidade: entre a autoajuda e a esperança prática

Abstract

This study seeks to answer how the concept of “hope” fostered by contemporary selfhelp culture 1s shaped im relation to the context of social hopelessness. The working class, shaped by a new structure of work, faces the imminent risk of losing their jobs and 1s confronted with the notion that the blame falls solely and exclusively on the individual. Nevertheless, self-help literature offers recommendations on how to avoid reaching that point; but if one does occur it, accepting it as “natural” —aserene form of starting over—is also a challenge. In this regard, understanding the new work cultures means persistently and contemporarily seeking to grasp the trajectories and contours of their alienations. To this end, this research sets out to trace a triad for a more detailed analysis of an “event”-—author—book, seeking a more empirical and specific approach to reflecting on current self-help trends and coach tramimg. Self-help literature and the professional coach do not present themselves as static institutions. They renew themselves, invent, and are remnvented. They speak from a specific historical era. They introduce mechanisms of action in different social environments. They draw imspiration from what is established and, socioculturally, what is immanent. The activity of “hope” is pedagogically constructed as a “contemporary lifestyle,” a “device” for being and understanding, one that exerts an influence on the world. Self-help culture formalizes community support for individual accountability. It proposes bonds—within a guided framework—for preparation that provides the necessary orientation for a competitive environment. A gregarious “refuge” is organized for times of individual pressures, accelerating toward temporary solutions. Amid the “disorder” of situational identity, the culture of self-help presents the “order” of practical hope, placing the individual at the center of this refuge. It establishes a pathway to communicate with an immediate reality that individualizes choices, advocates for sacrifices, 1s presumed to eliminate negative influences on the self, and rekindles hope as the indispensable tool for moving forward.