Professionalism is currently undergoing a process of radical change. Changes in the welfare state and in the market place have impacted upon professional organizations forcing them to change the ways in which they perform their jobs. This book analyzes these changes in relation to the legal industry and other professions such as doctors and accountants. It argues that the shift is being driven by the powerful and informed corporate client whilst it downgrades consideration for the weaker uninformed client with many casualties as a result. It highlights how this shift has become an important political issue as the different camps seek support from political parties. It suggests that the resulting contest will be one of the key political struggles of the first decade of the next century.

What isn't management and why doesn't it matter? This compelling book leads the reader away from the stories told by managers and management theories to show the secret history of the field. In characterizing the progress of management as a war on workers, this book offers a controversial and revealing alternative intellectual history of this overwhelming discipline. The author employs a unique range of theories and sources, including the founding fathers of management, US labour and social history, and earlier intellectual figures such as Marx and Weber alongside the contemporary insights of Foucault and European and American workerist and post-workerist thought, to shed light on the world of management. This book is key reading for researchers and students across the social sciences. With a controversial and stimulating approach, it also engages readers with a general interest in business and management issues.

What isn't management and why doesn't it matter? This compelling book leads the reader away from the stories told by managers and management theories to show the secret history of the field. In characterizing the progress of management as a war on workers, this book offers a controversial and revealing alternative intellectual history of this overwhelming discipline. The author employs a unique range of theories and sources, including the founding fathers of management, US labour and social history, and earlier intellectual figures such as Marx and Weber alongside the contemporary insights of Foucault and European and American workerist and post-workerist thought, to shed light on the world of management. This book is key reading for researchers and students across the social sciences. With a controversial and stimulating approach, it also engages readers with a general interest in business and management issues.

Professionalism is currently undergoing a process of radical change. Changes in the welfare state and in the market place have impacted upon professional organisations forcing them to change the ways in which they perform their jobs. This book analyses these changes in relation to the legal industry and other professions such as doctors and accountants. It argues that the shift is being driven by the powerful and informed corporate client whilst it downgrades consideration for the weaker uninformed client with many casualties as a result. It highlights how this shift has become an important political issue as the different camps seek support from political parties. It suggests that the resulting contest will be one of the key political struggles of the first decade of the next century.