Elites, professions, and the neoliberal state: critical points of intersection and contention

Abstract

Control and legitimacy struggles between expert occupational groups and organizations have become more intense and protracted due to the policy and governance regimes that neoliberal state elites have imposed over the last four decades. As a result, the contested terrain on and over which professions and other expert occupational groups contend to establish, defend, and enhance jurisdictional domains has become more unstable and complex. To understand the underlying dynamics and outcomes of the process of neoliberalization, we need to develop an analytical framework through which we can identify and explore the critical points of intersection and contention between elites, professions, and the neoliberal state structures and regimes in which they are embedded. By focussing on the emergence of the neoliberal state and the core governance and policy regimes through which elite power blocs acting in its name have attempted to impose market dominance and discipline over the organization of professional jurisdictional domains, this article offers an interpretation of the current condition of and prospects for professional work in the 21st century.