Work and Integrity: The Crisis and Promise of Professionalism in America - Hardcover

by William M. Sullivan (Author)

Work and Integrity is a timely resource that examines the crisis as well as the promise of professionalism in contemporary society. This vital book argues for the importance of a new civic professionalism that reflects the ideals of democracy and public service in our ever more complex economic environment. A publication of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Work and Integrity explores the most current thinking on the various (and often conflicting) ways in which the concept of professional work is understood. Using examples from the United States and Europe, the author describes how the professions evolved from a limited kind of genteel occupation into one of the most widely emulated and sought-after models of work. The book also explores the rise of complex institutions of industrial and postindustrial society, especially the university and the bureaucratic structures of business, government, health care, and education.

Front Jacket

Work and Integrity is a timely resource that examines the crisis as well as the promise of professionalism in contemporary society. This vital book argues for the importance of a new civic professionalism that reflects the ideals of democracy and public service in our ever more complex economic environment. A publication of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Work and Integrity explores the most current thinking on the various (and often conflicting) ways in which the concept of professional work is understood. Using examples from the United States and Europe, the author describes how the professions evolved from a limited kind of genteel occupation into one of the most widely emulated and sought-after models of work. The book also explores the rise of complex institutions of industrial and postindustrial society, especially the university and the bureaucratic structures of business, government, health care, and education.

Work and Integrity draws on The Carnegie Foundation's comparative study of professional education in medicine, nursing, law, engineering, and the preparation of the clergy. The book explores the relation between the theory and practice and the technical and moral aspects of professional training and examines the key issues and controversies about professionalism from an historical perspective and from the analysis of contemporary scholarly debates. In conclusion, the book proposes a new model for professionalism which aims at humanizing modern work and improving the equity and quality of contemporary life.

This important book offers a key resource for educators of professionals and makes a powerful argument for renewing the social contract between the professions and the wider public they serve--an argument that will resonate across a broad spectrum of readers, including professionals, academics, and policy makers.

Back Jacket

A Constructive Response to the Current Crisis of Confidence in the Professions

"For generations the professions have combined expert knowledge with public service in a proud sense of calling. Now the market economy threatens to reduce professions, along with every other sector of modern life, to a lowest common denominator. Sullivan's book offers understanding and hope to professionals seeking to recover their true calling."
--Robert N. Bellah, professor of sociology, emeritus, University of California at Berkeley and coauthor, Habits of the Heart and The Good Society

"Writing in the tradition of social critics as distinctive as Emile Durkheim, William Morris, and John Dewey, and drawing on recent research on the mastery of complex bodies of knowledge and traditions of practice in professional education, William Sullivan in Work and Integrity has given us an indispensable interpretation of the meaning of work for our time."
--Bruce Jennings, senior research scholar, The Hastings Center

"The mission of professional training is typically understood as developing expertise. In Work and Integrity, William Sullivan persuasively shows that those who educate the next generation of professionals should also be nurturing an ethic of 'civic professionalism, ' an understanding that the professions have a vital public responsibility. This is valuable, eye-opening reading for anyone who teaches--or depends on the professionalism of--professionals."
--David L. Kirp, professor, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley

"Work and Integrity provides an invaluable lens for understanding the role of professions in American society. By placing the contemporary challenges of professionals in broader historical and social context, William Sullivan offers a highly insightful analysis of how best to promote their highest ethical aspirations."
--Deborah Rhode, Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford University

Author Biography

William M. Sullivanis senior scholar at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Since 1999 he has served as director and series editor for the Preparation for the Professions Program, whose studies compare education across the professions of law, engineering, the clergy, nursing, and medicine, drawing out common themes and identifying distinct practices in the various fields.
The author of the first edition of Work and Integrity: The Crisis and Promise of Professionalism in America, and coauthor of the best-selling Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life as well as its sequel, The Good Society, Sullivan received his doctorate in philosophy from Fordham University and was professor of philosophy at La Salle University before joining the Carnegie Foundation. He has published extensively in social and political theory and ethics as well as education and the professions.