The Professional as Prophet

The social magic of professional knowledge

Forfattere

  • Bent Olsen Institutt for pedagogikk og livslang læring, NTNU

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/praxeologi.v6.4195

Sammendrag

Professions have become powerful forces for conceptualising both their own world and that of the general public, and for carrying out solutions for a wide range of human challenges. There is therefore good reason to examine the forms of social dominance that come with professionalisation. The inquiries in the current study are fundamentally preoccupied with the inherent contradiction between person and profession, and between the arbitrariness of subjectivity and the universalised concern of a profession. The presentation follows three steps: 1) The false neutrality of professions, 2) The contributions of Goffman and Bourdieu on contradictions between theory and moral practices within professions, 3) The symbolic order of prophecies. Evidence suggests that professions provide a surplus of meaning by virtue of some prophecies they carry with them. This symbolic resource creates an ambiguity between professional neutrality and determination of the personal morale of prophecies, with consequences for both knowledge of and knowledge about professions.

Forfatterbiografi

Bent Olsen, Institutt for pedagogikk og livslang læring, NTNU

Professor i pedagogisk sosiologi

Institutt for pedagogikk og livslang læring

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Nedlastinger

Publisert

2024-11-08

Hvordan referere

Olsen, B. (2024) «The Professional as Prophet : The social magic of professional knowledge», Praxeologi – Et kritisk refleksivt blikk på sosiale praktikker, 6, s. e4195. doi: 10.15845/praxeologi.v6.4195.

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