Pursuing Professional Interests at the Local Policy Level: A Comparative Case Study

Anne Sofie Kjær Joensen,Marius Brostrøm Kousgaard,Viola Burau

doi:10.7577/pp.643

Anne Sofie Kjær Joensen, Marius Brostrøm Kousgaard + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.7577/pp.643

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Abstract

The relationship between the state and organized occupational groups is a salient issue in the sociology of professions, but which has been changing considerably over recent decades. This paper revisits state-professions dynamics at the local level especially in relation to welfare service professions. The contribution is two-fold: empirically, we investigate how welfare professionals attempt to influence local policies; theoretically, we adapt the notion of social closure introduced by the sociology of professions to local institutional contexts. The analysis is based on a comparative case study of two groups of welfare professionals in two Danish municipalities. Empirically, our study shows that welfare professionals actively consider the local institutional context when acting to promote the interests of their own professional groups. Theoretically, our study identifies three dimensions of local closure strategies; the strategies involve both administrative and practising professionals and within that offensive/defensive as well as direct/indirect means.

Highlights

The relationship between the state and organized occupational groups is a salient issue in the sociology of professions, but it has been changing considerably over recent decades
The relationship between the state and organized occupational groups is a salient issue in the sociology of professions (Burau, 2014; Macdonald, 1995)
While a profession may refer to a collective strategic agent, e.g. a professional organization at the national level, professionals are individual members of a profession that may act strategically at the local level to advance the local position of the professional group to which they belong

Summary

Introduction

The relationship between the state and organized occupational groups is a salient issue in the sociology of professions, but it has been changing considerably over recent decades. The face of the state has been changing considerably over recent decades following New Public Management reforms and moves towards decentralisation and marketization (Osborne, 2010) These reforms have strengthened the responsibility of sub-national levels for the organization and regulation of welfare services (Burau and Kröger 2004; Wrede et al, 2006; Kazepov, 2010). Given this development, it is interesting to revisit state-professions dynamics at the local level especially in relation to the welfare service professions who have historically had close ties to the local levels of government. Insights from the Danish case are relevant outside the Nordic countries because welfare service professionals are generally based at the local level of government where they deliver welfare services to local citizens (Anttonen et al, 2003)

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