Implications of the LIW study for the learning of individual professionals

It is now almost commonplace to discuss the times we live in as ‘postsocial’ (Knorr Cetina 1997: 5), where individualisation is the emergent theme and where the complex structures of bureaucratic organisations are being broken down into small units with flat hierarchies and negotiable social practices. These work systems have become more open with, as Sennett puts it, ‘febrile’ boundaries and mixed work forms. The argument goes that these more fluid systems are also unlikely to operate as ‘institutional suppports’ (Sennett 1999: 21) that sustain professional identities. Instead, professionals are obliged to negotiate their expert identities with their ‘publics’ (Nixon et al. 1997: 5) whether these are other practitioners or clients.