Contenu du sommaire : De la qualification à la professionnalité.

This epistemological reconstruction classifies the approaches that could be discerned in papers submitted during the colloquium. While some authors stuck to the system of labor and company policies, others discussed the notions of qualification and of "objective" know-how. Another tendency was to emphasize biographical aspects and the forming of social identities. A fourth group of participants based their definition of qualification upon union control of the labor market ; and a fifth upon a whole set of societal, educational, occupational and contractual elements.

The notion of "qualification" is critically examined through the works of the founding father of French labor sociology. The usage of this notion is placed within its social and political context. G. Friedmann criticized the effects of Taylorism upon the "dequalification" of workers. He raised questions about the future of a technician civilization and inquired into the social consequences of developing "automatisms". Several typologies of the Friedmanian analysis are reconstituted ; and questions are asked about his definition of qualification, the criteria he used, and the changes he foresaw. Emphasis is placed upon his role as a harbinger who announced the issues to be raised in subsequent dabates.

The economistic trend in analyses of job qualifications (defined as a linkage between the use and exchange values of the work force) is presented following a critical review of studies that have been narrowly restricted to the topics of labor and companies. The acquirement of a crystallized know-how within the trade or job culture used to settle problems both of qualification and of pay by generating bargaining power. This way of regulating the labor market is also related to company and government interventions.

A sociology of the police profession is justified that is founded upon the observation and analysis of police work. According to the results, qualifications are not given from the start ; instead, they are an issue in the organization's internal social relations. The observation of police work helps us glimpse a dilemma : competency defined either as an art based upon individual qualities and experiences or as a science acquired through formal learning processes. Depending upon this choice, implications differ about how the profession should be organized and finction (recruitment procedures and the conception of training, for example).

The notion of qualification carries much weight within the teaching profession : it is a central issue in labor disputes and union campaigns. The relationship between diplomas and positions is the traditional way of regulating this profession, but new competencies and sources of knowledge have come into being as a result of changes both in school enrollments and in the institution's objectives. As a consequence, pedagogical duties have to be adapted ; and the notion of competency, redefined. Insofar as this notion has become a social issue, the ethical and organizational elements that enter into its definition have become visible.

This analysis of the strategies of professionalization begins by defining several types of professional coalitions ; for instance, some are based upon the position acquired through practising an occupation whereas others give priority to knowledge or professional techniques. This typology is applied to the professions of urbanism (architects, engineers and administrators), and a historical analysis is made of how these professions were formed, how they have changed and how they relate to the State.

The ways that the notion of qualification has been used are examined in quest for evidence that might indicate how to build a theory. Each period that is reconstituted brings out new aspects of this notion. Through this historical reconstruction, qualification is defined as a "joint regulation" — a collective regulation that is negotiated on the internal labor market, that has to do with the processes through which production is organized.