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The Future of Professionalism: How to Preserve and Justify Jurisdictional Discretion in Investor Capitalism

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Precarious Professional Work

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Abstract

All societies need to institute mechanisms that structure and optimize the use of its technical, economic, legal, and cultural expertise. The concepts of professional work and professionalism have traditionally served this role, but economic, political, social, and cultural changes have put a pressure on professional work to become more market oriented. The final chapter of the volume examines some of the worrying tendencies in investor capitalism including slower economic growth, soaring economic inequality, unprecedented levels of debt on all levels, and increased economic instability in the global finance industry that all challenges professional work conducive to economic well-being. Professionalism is not yet an irrelevant term, but it is gradually being redefined as, e.g., “knowledge-intensive work” to separate it from its traditional role as a balancing mechanism between the market and the state. In the era of investor capitalism, professional work is at risk of becoming increasingly precarious.

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  1. School of Business, Economics, and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Alexander Styhre

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Styhre, A. (2017). The Future of Professionalism: How to Preserve and Justify Jurisdictional Discretion in Investor Capitalism. In: Precarious Professional Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59566-5_5

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