ABSTRACT
The rise and development of industrial capitalist society has been part of the process whereby life has been increasingly rationalised. This has involved the increasing application of calculation, rules and the growing pervasiveness of ‘scientific’ knowledge. Routinisation and application of knowledge has been increasingly important in the seeking and maintenance of power – whether we are considering the distribution of power at the societal level or the power of occupational or organisational groupings. It was argued in the previous chapter that such a concern with knowledge on the part of occupational groups is central to the professionalisation strategy followed by some of these groups. In the case of personnel specialists it was seen that there is an interest in membership of a professional organisation and that this interest is to a large extent to be understood in terms of a desire to be labelled as competent – partly implying possession of appropriate knowledge – and in terms of a perceived opportunity to keep up to date with such knowledge.
