by prof. Gerald Grace
The
argument of this paper is that professions and professionals have a crucial
role in society which is 'to speak
truth to power'. This was one of the roles of the first professions of
priesthood, medicine and law but today the evidence suggests that professionalism
is being reduced in scope to the demonstration of technical expertise and
efficient performativity only.
Historically,
professionalism involved the demonstration of esoteric knowledge and expertise
but it also involved commitment to codes of moral, ethical and social conduct.
These commitments might, in certain circumstances, because some professionals
to be critical of or even oppose, policies introduced by powerful authorities.
This
analysis will be developed in three sections. In Section 1the origins of the
professions in the Middle Ages, in the culture of the sacred will be examined.
In Section
2 the transition of professionalism from the culture of the sacred to the
culture of the profane by the nineteenth century will be discussed, with
special reference to Emile Durkheim’s classic
text, Professional Ethics and Civic
Morals (1957/1992)
In Section
3, the contemporary situation of professionalism will be analyzed, with special
relevance to those professionals who work in the fields of economics, finance,
banking and business studies and also those who work in the field of education.
This section will focus on what can be called professionalism in the culture of
global marketisation ......
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