Presentation for the ISA Forum, RC52 August 2012 in Buenos Aires Kurt Dauer Keller Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University The idea of professionalism • The notion of professionalism as the ideal type of a ’third social logic’ next to (state) bureaucracy and market (Freidson) • The very idea of professionalism is theoretical (conceptual, discursive), and of normative as well as of descriptive interest • It must be conceived as a distinct political and sociocultural ’institution’: a significant factor of the civil society, deeply rooted in our lifeworld and civilization • In its inherent association with ethics and trust: a notion of the entirety of social order (alternative to ’the state’ and ’the market’) • An open empirical question: in what ways and to what extent are concrete professions marked by the habitus (and institution) of professionalism? ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 2 The style (and other important notions) of a profession • The style: the recognized identity (prevailing image) of a characteristic form of professional practice; the social sense and significance that it represents • not a cognitive or discursive idea, but a corporeal experience of practical meaning • The habitus: the actual organization and accomplishment of professional work (not enough elucidated in previous research, cf. Abbott 1988, Freidson 2001) • The institution: the socioculturally taken for granted coherence between the social field and the habitus of a profession ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 3 The phenomenological understanding of experience and behavior as intentional (perspectival, oriented) meaning Figure on a background Theme in a context Event in a situation Examples: A personal action that makes sense and is of significance within an interpersonal communication, an occupational community or an anonymous socioculture The focus-foreground-background structure of work organization: situated discretion - competent practice - social identity ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 4 Ideal types of social order and their work organizational implications IDEAL TYPICAL SOCIAL ORDER MOTIVATED DISCRETION INSTITUTED PRACTICE POSITIONING (POWER GAME) STATE politics (law) obedience MARKET economy (money) self-interest hierarchic placement competition PROFESSION ethics (trust) impartiality surveillance and governance turnover and consumption expert labour ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University occupational organization 5 Dimensions of professional style discursive descriptive interpretive corporeal ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 6 Practical understanding of evidence and expert knowledge to be attained through health educations (Voldbjerg et al.) Corporeal knowledge in the education of nurses: Handling lung and throat tissue Actualizing emotions of sorrow and loss Interpretive knowledge in the education of occupational therapists: Evocation of a mythology of the establishment of the professional discipline Interpretive knowledge in the education of radiographers: Realizing how criteria of picture quality may depend on the context of application ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 7 Developmental and dynamic coherence of varieties of expert knowledge Critical, reflected explanation Holistic, integrating interpretation Immediate, corporeal understanding ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 8 The democracy of professionalism and professions Predominant aspects of democracy in the ideal types of social logic: Realted to ’politics’: The state: delegation and civil rights (formal, ’cognitive’ orientation) The market: liberty (appetitive, ’conative’ orientation) Related to ’the political’: The professionalism: character attitude (humanistic , ’emotional’ orientation) Important aspects of democracy without particular relation to one ideal type: Freedom of organization, press and speech Deliberation The cross-cutting question of ’systemic colonizing’ of the lifeworld (and civil society) ISA Forum 2012 K.D. Keller, Aalborg University 9