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Professions and Professionalism - Should We Jump Off the Bandwagon, Better to Study Where It Is Going?

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  • Tony Watson

Abstract

Social scientists are invited to contemplate the possibility of abandoning the concepts of "profession" and "professionalism" as analytical resources for the study of occupations and occupational strategies. It might be more fruitful to treat the way the people in society generally, and spokespersons for occupational groupings in particular, use notions of profession and professionalism to achieve particular purposes. The language of professionalism is highly ambiguous, with its meaning constantly slipping from one emphasis to another. This alone makes it problematic as a source of concepts for the critical analysis of occupational activity. But it is made even more problematic by the fact that it is frequently deployed in the occupational world to serve sectional interests. It is unlikely that social scientists will abandon concepts of professionalism. But they would be wise to reflect on the analytical and critical implications of their using such a slippery and pejorative terminology.

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  • Tony Watson, 2002. "Professions and Professionalism - Should We Jump Off the Bandwagon, Better to Study Where It Is Going?," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 93-105, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:mimoxx:v:32:y:2002:i:2:p:93-105
    DOI: 10.1080/00208825.2002.11043660
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    Cited by:

    1. Laurie Cohen & Adrian Wilkinson & John Arnold & Rachael Finn, 2005. "‘Remember I’m the bloody architect!’," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 19(4), pages 775-796, December.
    2. Miguel González-González & Óscar Fernández-Álvarez & Kouadio-Alexis Lally & Sara Ouali-Fernandez, 2021. "Religion and Workers’ Associations for Decent Work in Spain," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-12, May.

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