Professions and Organisations Facing Turbulent Times: The Role of Technology

The relationship between professions and organisations is a long-standing concern in the sociology of professions, work and organisations. Since the seminal contributions of Marie Haug and Magali Sarfatti Larson, scholars have examined how professional firms and public/private professional organisations reshape autonomy, control, career structures, inequalities and professionalisation projects. While organisations were initially often viewed as constraining professionalism, more recent work has shown how they also shape, redefine and sustain professional work.

The role of technology in this relationship has also been addressed by pioneering contributions, notably those of Stephen Barley and Diane Bailey, but remains only partially explored in relation to contemporary transformations. The increasingly widespread access to expert knowledge enabled by intelligent technologies is reconfiguring professional and organisational dynamics. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and other intelligent technologies introduce a new layer of complexity, raising questions about how professional work is performed, how expert knowledge is produced and legitimised, and how organisations absorb or are transformed by technological change.

This joint session between RC52 and RC17 explores technological change in contemporary organisations and among professionals. We welcome empirical and theoretical contributions, as well as methodological reflections, focusing on professions, organisations and their intertwined relationships under conditions of technological change, both in the Global North and Global South. We particularly welcome analyses of work contexts in which intelligent technologies are used by different professional groups across time and space.

Although the session is mainly in English, participants may present in any ISA official language: English, Spanish or French.