1 Introduction: Within, Between, Beyond—A Multidimensional Approach to the Study of Professionalism and Social Change
Part I Within
2 When Employment Status Shapes Professionalism. The Case of the Academic Labour Market in Switzerland
3 Processes of Differentiation and Fragmentation within:South African Textile Designers
4 Models of Professionalism and Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Legal Profession
5 Are Platforms Changing Professionalism?
6 Learning and Differentiation within Professions—The Cases of Teaching and Nursing
Part II Between
7 Changing Professional Status in Evolving Professional Systems: Towards Using a Descriptive Lens to Analyse Multi-layered Transformation Processes
8 Professionalism in Everyday Work: Women Lawyers’ Strategies to Exercise Control over Their Work in Finland, French Canada, and Poland
9 The Professionalism, Accountability, and Work of Teachers in Different Regulatory Regimes
10 Inequalities in Neo-mutualistic Professional Organisations: The Boundary Work of Creative Workers in Italy
Part III Beyond
11 The Changing Nature of Profession-State Relations in Canada: The Persistence of Self-Regulation in the Context of Reform, 1960–2010
12 Expand or Translate?: Theorising Work in Professionals’ Activism
13 Social Media Influencers: A New Hybrid Professionalism in the Age of Platform Capitalism?
14 Conclusions: Making Sense of Professionalism and Social Change
Lara Maestripieri holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Research, granted by the University of Trento (2011). She is a “Ramon y Cajal”distinguished researcher at the Department of Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the IGOP (Institute of Government and Public Policy). She is the current Secretary/Treasurer of the ISA RC52 “Sociology of Professional Groups” board. Previous publications on emerging professions appeared in the Journal of Professions & Organization, Canadian Review of Sociology, Professions & Professionalism.
Andrea Bellini received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Florence. He currently holds a position as an Assistant Professor at the Sapienza University of Rome. His research interests are at the crossroads of the sociology of professions and industrial relations. Within this broad area, his work has focused on the study of labour regulation and interest representation. His publications include contributions on the legal, healthcare, and creative professions. He is a member of the editorial board of CAMBIO.
This book guides the reader in discovering contemporary professions and the critical changes they have lived through after the post-industrial transformation of advanced capitalist societies. Two interrelated concepts are used to interpret what is happening in professional work: differentiation, namely the set of processes by which professions and professionalism have become more diverse, and heterogeneity, the outcomes of such processes.
A novel analytical framework delves into differentiation and understands heterogeneity based on three dimensions: within (how professions are structured internally), between (how professions distinguish themselves from other occupations and from each other), and beyond (how professions govern societal changes and influence differentiation processes). The book presents a collection of studies covering different countries and professions to demonstrate the analytical potential of the within-between-beyond model. The conclusions show how “neo-liberal” professionalism is putting the very idea of collegiate professions at stake while exposing emerging professions to market risks.
Lara Maestripieri is Ramon y Cajal Distinguished Researcher, IGOP/Department of Political Science and Public Right, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Andrea Bellini is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Economic and Labour Processes, Department of Social and Economic Sciences (DiSSE), Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.