Dmitri Shalin Interview with Magali Sarfatti-Larson about Erving Goffman entitled Goffman Was One of the Most Memorable People I Have Met in the Academia Because He Was Not an Academic

This conversation with Dr. Magali Sarfatti-Larson, Professor Emeritus at Temple University, was recorded over the phone on December 9, 2009. After Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, Dr. Sarfatti-Larson edited the transcript and approved posting the present version on the web. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”

Looking Back and a Little Forward: Reflections on Professionalism and Teaching as a Profession

The author goes back to her earlier work on professionalization, in which she argued that aspiring professions aim at converting one order of scarce resources into another: credentials, as proxies for expertise, into protected opportunities, special status, and work privileges. This effort implied a tendency to monopoly and it was not easy to replicate after the classic professions of medicine and the law had consolidated their position in the early twentieth century. Professions born within large organizations are in a very different situation, even if they may aspire to the same status and autonomy at work. After discussing the shortcomings of her earlier work and the research questions that can still fruitfully be posed, the author considers the challenges that school teaching faces in our time. Universal mandatory education has been the watershed that transformed this occupation into what it is today: a huge category spread out at many levels, still predominantly female, highly educated, and, in many countries but not ours, following a civil service model. School teaching must also cope with the very high expectations that surround a universal service provided by an apparatus of the state. Professionalism imposed “from above” seems less promising for school teaching and their students in the U.S. than an enlightened union movement capable of self-criticism and self-reform

Revista de educación

En vista de las tendencias postindustriales que están apareciendo en todas las economías avanzadas, debemos preguntarnos mejor si la posesión de un conocimiento científico y técnico puede conferir poder político a quienes poseen tal conocimiento. Al plantear esta cuestión se está aceptando la idea de que la función del experto, es debido a las grandes transformaciones producidas en la estructura de la sociedad, acaso esté sustituyendo a determinadas configuraciones de poder antes dominantes: en las sociedades capitalistas, el poder inherente a la posesión del capital y, en el socialismo dirigido por el Estado, el poder inseparable de una postura de partido o de la pureza doctrinal. La autonomía de que gozan los expertos en las sociedades capitalistas avanzadas lleva a muchos autores a considerarlos como una posible clase social. Son tan indispensables y necesarios que los empresarios capitalistas no pueden permitirse el enemistarse con ellos durante mucho tiempo. Así, la preeminencia de la función del experto reduce por duplicado la probabilidad de que se produzca un conflicto social en su forma industrial clásica, basada en la producción. La aparición de esta nueva clase anuncia da decadencia política de la vieja clase.Ministerio Educación CIDEBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Behind the postmodern facade: architectural change in late twentieth-century America

Magali Larson's comprehensive study explores how architecture "happens" and what has become of the profession in the postmodern era. Drawing from extensive interviews with pivotal architects - from Philip Johnson, who was among the first to introduce European modernism to America, to Peter Eisenman, identified with a new "deconstructionist" style - she analyzes the complex tensions that exist between economic interest, professional status, and architectural product. She investigates the symbolic awards and recognition accorded by prestigious journals and panels, exposing the inner workings of a profession in a precarious social position. Larson captures the struggles around status, place, and power as architects seek to redefine their very purpose in contemporary America.The author's novel approach in synthesizing sociological research and theory proposes nothing less than a new cultural history of architecture. This is a ground-breaking contribution to the study of culture and the sociology of knowledge, as well as to architectural and urban history

Emblème et exception. La définition historique du rôle de l'architecture

Magali Sarfatti Larson, Emblem und Ausnahme. Historische Definition der Rolle des Architekten Die Untersuchung der Geschichte des Architektenberufs schreibt seine erste Konsolidierung vom französischen Akademismus her, der ihn staatlichen Aufträgen unterwirft, während regionale Architektur lokalen Konventionen überlassen bleibt. Die Zurückdrängung der staatlichen Macht durch den Kapitalismus entzieht dem Architekten dir Rolle des Stadtplaners und schränkt ihn auf die Haus-bzw. Denkmalsarchitektur ein, Funktionen, in denen er zur akademischen Tradition zurückfindet — was noch für die Moderne gilt.Magali Sarfatti Larson, Emblem and exception. A historical definition of the role of the architect The study of the history of the profession of Architect was consolidated by French academism which itself was subjected to State orders, whereas vernacular architecture was controlled by local conventions. The limitation of State power by capitalism took away from the architect his role of town planner, and he became confined to the architecture of houses, or the erection of monuments, wherein he renews with academic tradition, including the modern movement which has maintained its charactistic esoterism.L'analyse de l'histoire de la profession d'architecte date sa première consolidation de l'académisme français qui l'assujettit à la commande d'Etat, alors que l'architecture vernaculaire est régie par des conventions locales. La limitation du pouvoir de l'Etat par le capitalisme retire à l'architecte son rôle d'urbaniste et le confine dans l'architecture de la maison ou l'érection du monument pour laquelle il retrouve la tradition académique, y compris dans le mouvement Moderne, qui en conserve l'ésotérisme caractéristique.Magali Sarfatti Larson, Emblema y excepción, Definición histórica del papel del arquitecto Históricamente, la primera consolidation de la profesión de arquitecto data del academismo francés que la sometió a los encargos estatales, mientras que la arquitectura vernacular era regida por convenios locales. La limitación del poder del Estado operada por el capitalismo retira al arquitecto su papel de urbanista y lo confina a la arquitectura residencial o monumental, para la cual retornan a la tradición académica, inclusive en el movimiento moderno, que conserva de esta última el característico esoterismo.Sarfatti Larson Magali. Emblème et exception. La définition historique du rôle de l'architecture. In: Les Annales de la recherche urbaine, N°44-45, 1989. Pratiques et professions. pp. 177-184

À propos des professionnels et des experts ou comme il est peu utile d’essayer de tout dire

Des professions différentes dans des sociétés différentes à des moments différents suivront des chemins différents pour atteindre leur but de clôture sociale. Le succès d'un projet de professionnalisation se définit tant par le contexte politique que par l'efficacité de la profession même, qui dépend, elle, de ressources intellectuelles, idéologiques et sociales diverses. Toutes les professions modernes sont organisées (ou prétendent l'être) pour la production de "discours vrais", ou, du moins, de discours "plus vrais" que ceux de leurs rivaux et du public non expert. Une analyse de la production de ces discours inspirée par Foucault et Bourdieu est proposée. La dépoliticisation inhérente aux champs professionnels est aussi discutée à l'aide de quelques exemples historiques de professionnalisation à tendance technocratique. Enfin, les différents niveaux d'analyse sociologique auxquels la recherche sur les professions peut être située théoriquement sont clarifiés.Different professions in different societies at different moments in time follow different paths in reaching their goal of social closure. The success of a professionalization project is influenced as much by the political context as by the efficiency of the profession itself, the latter depending on various intellectual, ideological and social resources. All modern professions are organized (or claim to be) for the production of a "true discourse", or, at least, of a "truer" discourse than that of their rivals and of the public composed of non-experts. An analysis of the production of such forms of discourse is proposed, inspired by Foucault and Bourdieu. The de-politicization inherent in the professions is also discussed with the help of historical examples of professionalization which show technocratic tendancies. Finally, different levels of sociological analysis at which research on professions can be theoretically situated, are clarified.Profesiones diferentes en sociedades diferentes en momentos diferentes seguirán caminos diferentes para llegar a su objetivo de cierre social. El éxito de un proyecto de profesionalización se define tanto por el contexto político como por la eficacia de la profesión misma, que depende de los recursos intelectuales, ideológicos y sociales diversos. Todas las profesiones modernas están organizadas (o pretenden estarlo) para la producción de "discursos verdaderos", o, al menos, de discursos "mas verdaderos" que aquellos de sus rivales y del público no experto. Un análisis de la producción de esos discursos inspirado por Foucault y Bourdieu es propuesto. La despolitización propia a los campos profesionales es también discutida con la ayuda de algunos ejemplos históricos de profesionalización con tendencia tecnocrática. Finalmente, se sitúan los diferentes niveles de análisis sociológico dentro de los cuales la investigación sobre las profesiones puede ser situada teóricamente