Why Professions Matter: Structural Invariance, Institutional Consequences, Bias

Abstract

AppendixReceived wisdom in the sociology of professions employs two approaches, a narrow socio-economic approach (largely in the Anglo-American world) and a much broader cultural and social-psychological approach (largely on the Continent). Both approaches agree on two points. First, professions cannot be distinguished at a conceptual level from other occupations. Second, whatever consequences either successful or failed professionalism introduces into civil society or state administration are confined to the occupational order and stratification system. They do not and cannot affect the direction of social change. The alternative approach outlined and discussed here is structural and institutional. With this approach we distinguish professions proper analytically from other occupations and we identify consequences of professionalism proper that uniquely reflect or anticipate notable shifts in the direction of social change.One consensus in the sociology of professions today is that professions are simply a type of status category in the occupational order and stratification system. They are no more significant than thousands of other occupations, which also confer statuses. Professions are not more distinctive socio-economically, nor culturally and social-psychologically -to say nothing of structurally and institutionally. Certainly, they are hardly capable of contributing (somehow) to "social order," let alone of doing so uniquely among

O trabalho profissional burocrático: modelo de análise da profissionalização do trabalho em serviço social no setor não lucrativo em Portugal

“…É claro que a dificuldade em superar esta visão "purista" sobre as profissões é consequência, em grande medida, de um debate continuado e persistente sobre a especificidade do profissionalismo nas sociedades capitalistas, incluindo a sua oposição à lógica do mercado (Sciulli, 2010). Mais recentemente, a Sociologia das Profissões de inspiração neoweberiana abandonou a discussão sobre os critérios que podem definir o ideal tipo de profissão (Sacks, 2010), mas, apesar disto, burocratização e profissionalização são ainda considerados como dois fenômenos de institucionalização da vida social independentes, quase sempre em tensão (Freidson, 2001;Evetts, 2003;Brint, 2006).…”

“…Em consequência, o aprofundamento da análise da relação entre burocratização das organizações e profissionalização do trabalho sempre foi limitado na Sociologia das Profissões e só começou a ser desenvolvido de modo regular e sistemático na década de 1990 do século XX (Brewer, 1996). Como resultado destas limitações da Sociologia das Profissões, é comum opor-se a teoria anglo-saxônica à teoria continental no estudo das profissões (Sciulli, 2005;Svensson e Evetts, 2010).…”

“…Uma perspectiva de análise que legitimou e legitima dois modelos de explicação para o poder profissional: o modelo continental e o modelo liberal (Sciulli, 2005). No entanto, reconhece-se que na Europa ocidental, primeiro devido ao desenvolvimento do Estado Providência e posteriormente ao desenvolvimento da nova gestão das políticas públicas (new public management -NPM), há uma progressiva convergência histórica na análise sobre o poder das profissões que tende a superar as divergências existentes (Svensson e Evetts, 2010).…”

Coping with Crises: A Neo-Classical View on Professions

“…On the other hand, a growing number of occupations seem to strive towards a vague concept of "professionalism." In this situation, some authors tend to broaden the research scope to include all kinds of expert labour (for example, Evetts, 2003Evetts, , 2011, whereas others want to restore a more narrow and analytical concept of professionalism (Brante, 2010;Olgiati, 2010;Sciulli, 2010). Here, we focus on an approach that can be located within this field of attempts to reorganize the sociology of professions and is so far little known beyond the German-speaking academic world, namely, the revised theory of professionalization (RTP), which was developed by Oevermann (cf.…”

Special Issue: Theoretical Perspectives on Sociology of Professions in Germany

“…On the other hand, a growing number of occupations seem to strive towards a vague concept of "professionalism." In this situation, some authors tend to broaden the research scope to include all kinds of expert labour (for example, Evetts, 2003, whereas others want to restore a more narrow and analytical concept of professionalism (Brante, 2010;Olgiati, 2010;Sciulli, 2010). Here, we focus on an approach that can be located within this field of attempts to reorganize the sociology of professions and is so far little known beyond the German-speaking academic world, namely, the revised theory of professionalization (RTP), which was developed by Oevermann (cf.…”