The Logic Of Professionalism

Eliot Freidson has written the first systematic account of professionalism as a method of organizing work. In ideal-typical professionalism, specialized workers control their own work, while in the free market consumers are in command, and in bureaucracy managers dominate. Freidson shows how each method has its own logic requiring different kinds of knowledge, organization, career, education and ideology. He also discusses how historic and national variations in state policy, professional organization, and forms of practice influence the strength of professionalism. In appraising the embattled position of professions today, Freidson concludes that ideologically inspired attacks pose less danger to professionals' institutional privileges than to their ethical independence to resist use of their specialized knowledge to maximize profit and efficiency without also providing its benefits to all in need. This timely and original analysis will be of great interest to those in sociology, political science, history, business studies and the various professions.

This book discusses common management and work practices in professional service organizations. Alvehus opens important discussions on what it means to work, manage, and be managed in such professional organizations, casting light on classic conflicts. He takes everyday work as a starting point and adopts a critical view that focuses on challenges and struggles in both public and private settings. He offers new perspectives and key insights for the future of professionalism. Providing a comprehensive overview of the field, this book is an important guide for understanding how professionalism is maintained in today’s organizations. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of management and leadership.

This book discusses common management and work practices in professional service organizations. Alvehus opens important discussions on what it means to work, manage, and be managed in such professional organizations, casting light on classic conflicts. He takes everyday work as a starting point and adopts a critical view that focuses on challenges and struggles in both public and private settings. He offers new perspectives and key insights for the future of professionalism. Providing a comprehensive overview of the field, this book is an important guide for understanding how professionalism is maintained in today’s organizations. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of management and leadership.

This book explores common management practices as they relate to professional service organizations. Adopting a unique critical institutional view, it focuses on challenges and struggles in both public and private settings and offers new insights. This will be essential reading for scholars of management and leadership.

This new work explores the meaning and implications of professionalism as a form of social organization. Eliot Freidson formalizes professionalism by treating it as an ideal type grounded in the political economy; he presents the concept as a third logic, or a more viable alternative to consumerism and bureaucracy. He asks us to imagine a world where workers with specialized knowledge and the ability to provide society with especially important services can organize and control their own work, without directives from management or the influence of free markets. Freidson then appraises the present status of professionalism, exploring how traditional and national variations in state policy and organization are influencing the power and practice of such professions as medicine and law. Widespread attacks by neoclassical economists and populists, he contends, are obscuring the social value of credentialism and monopolies. The institutions that sustain professionalism in our world are simply too useful to both capital and state to dismiss.

In this ground-breaking text book, bestselling author Neil Thompson turns his attention to the question of 'What does it mean to be truly professional in the field of social work?' Notions of professionalism in social work have changed over time. Early traditional ideas showed themselves to be elitist and inconsistent with the fundamental principles of social work, and have been followed by a period of uncertainty as to whether or not social workers are professionals at all. Now, with a move towards a new form of professionalism beginning to take shape, this book presents a cogent argument for reaffirming this vital aspect of social work. Informed by extensive experience and expertise, Thompson examines the role of the modern-day social worker in four parts: as problem solver, thinker, manager and professional. Whether a student new to the complexities of this demanding, rewarding field taking a social work practice or placement module, or a qualified practitioner seeking a source of guidance, this book will help meet the challenge of developing a professionalism that is consistent with the values of contemporary social work.

Classical and Fuzzy Concepts in Mathematical Logic and Applications provides a broad, thorough coverage of the fundamentals of two-valued logic, multivalued logic, and fuzzy logic. Exploring the parallels between classical and fuzzy mathematical logic, the book examines the use of logic in computer science, addresses questions in automatic deduction, and describes efficient computer implementation of proof techniques. Specific issues discussed include: Propositional and predicate logic Logic networks Logic programming Proof of correctness Semantics Syntax Completenesss Non-contradiction Theorems of Herbrand and Kalman The authors consider that the teaching of logic for computer science is biased by the absence of motivations, comments, relevant and convincing examples, graphic aids, and the use of color to distinguish language and metalanguage. Classical and Fuzzy Concepts in Mathematical Logic and Applications discusses how the presence of these facts trigger a stirring, decisive insight into the understanding process. This view shapes this work, reflecting the authors' subjective balance between the scientific and pedagogic components of the textbook. Usually, problems in logic lack relevance, creating a gap between classroom learning and applications to real-life problems. The book includes a variety of application-oriented problems at the end of almost every section, including programming problems in PROLOG III. With the possibility of carrying out proofs with PROLOG III and other software packages, readers will gain a first-hand experience and thus a deeper understanding of the idea of formal proof.

Performance and Professional Wrestling is the first edited volume to consider professional wrestling explicitly from the vantage point of theatre and performance studies. Moving beyond simply noting its performative qualities or reading it via other performance genres, this collection of essays offers a complete critical reassessment of the popular sport. Topics such as the suspension of disbelief, simulation, silence and speech, physical culture, and the performance of pain within the squared circle are explored in relation to professional wrestling, with work by both scholars and practitioners grouped into seven short sections: Audience Circulation Lucha Gender Queerness Bodies Race A significant re-reading of wrestling as a performing art, Performance and Professional Wrestling makes essential reading for scholars and students intrigued by this uniquely theatrical sport.