301252 Dynamics of Expertise (S) (SoSe 2022)

While sociologists resist consensus over a definition of expertise, many would agree that it is currently going through a phase of substantial change. New technologies, ecological crises and postfactual sentiments all seem to contribute to a “crisis” or even the “death” of expertise. This seminar is not concerned with the question whether such assessments are accurate or not. Rather, this seminar takes such accounts as a springboard to ask the more fundamental question: How did we come to understand expertise as a dynamic object of inquiry? To address this question, we engage in an in-depth reading of Andrew Abbott’s text The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Abbott’s book was published in 1988 and describes how groups of experts—professions—jockey for position with one another by making jurisdictional claims over particular task areas. In 1991 the text was awarded the American Sociological Association's Distinguish Scholarly book award and has since then become a key reference for research on expertise as a matter of contestation and conflict.

This seminar is divided in one virtual kick-off session and two in person blocks. There are no mandatory readings for the kickoff session. However, as we work through the book there is a fair amount of mandatory readings in preparation for each of the two in person blocks. There is plenty of time between the sessions to read, but I recommend that you plan ahead your reading. A digital copy of the book will be made available via Lernraum.