« Professionnal discourses under economic pressure : the case of architects, landscape designers and industrial designers
Résumé
More and more professionals undergo strong pressure from markets and organizations for the “economicization” of their activity. The new discourse of professionalism and the managerial norms that characterize it illustrate these pressures. Despite this evolution which jeopardizes the autonomy of professions as a third source of coordination of economic activities, apart from markets and organisations, some professional groups still seek to achieve the status of a self-regulated profession or at least some advantages of it. The case of industrial designers and landscape designers, as shown in this article, gives however testimony that these pressures for economicization have had strong effects on the evolution of the discourse of these professionals and of their representatives seeking for recognition. The professional work's economic benefits for both clients and employers as well as for the whole society constitute now a key theme of it. On the contrary, the case of architects, an old profession already rather well protected, shows how dangerous it can be to maintain a traditional discourse without adapting it to new requirements from the professionals' partners in the economic life.
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