PROFOOD
Collaboration and concurrence between professional-bureaucrats. The case of food safety reforms in Switzerland
Co-investigators: Muriel Surdez, Jérôme Debons, Alexandre Hobeika,Lorène Piquerez
The safety of animal products has become a crucial social, economic and political issue all across Europe since the 1990’s, following different food crisis, in particular the one caused by BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a.k.a. “Mad cow Disease”). Facing serious critics about the management of these crises, European states have introduced reforms aiming at improving the efficiency of their intervention in this sector. In Switzerland, authorities have adopted new laws which intend to unify cantonal practices and to introduce a stricter control of cattle and meat production/transformation. In parallel, administrative units in charge of animal health and other veterinary affairs have been merged with those in charge of food safety and hygiene control (at federal and cantonal levels) with the result of bringing together public veterinarians and public chemical/food engineers. These two professional groups are different on several points: types of training, professional knowledge and culture, social background of their members, legitimacy of state positions in comparison to the private sector, relationships with private actors and interests.
Research questions
Based on the framework of the sociology of professions, our research question is: Why and how do these two groups of professional-bureaucrats collaborate together and what are the new concurrences between them? Based on this question, we will investigate two lines of research: 1) identifying the socio-professional profiles of these actors and linking them with their positions toward the reform, in order to determine who they are and how their profiles and careers shape their views of the reforms; 2) characterizing the balance of power between these two types of professionals, in order to examine the extent to which state restructurings have reshaped professional practices and collaborations, and whether it has raised new conflicts between professionals regarding which expertise and skills are relevant to ensure food safety.
Methods
This research is based on a quantitative and qualitative research design. By the mean of a questionnaire administered to a population of 320 public veterinarians and chemical/food engineers (at federal and cantonal levels), we will determine the various positions of these professionals toward the reforms and link them with their socio-professional profiles and careers. The second line of research will be investigated through in-depth qualitative interviews with a sample of 65 individuals belonging to the same population. These data will allow us to study professional concurrences as well as the varying abilities and possibilities of professional-bureaucrats to work together.
Impacts
This project will contribute to the understanding of the changes occurring in an important state intervention field which regards crucial social issues and that remain understudied in Switzerland. The sociology of professions sheds a new light on recent state reforms by focusing on the impacts they have on professional-bureaucrats. It will provide knowledge about: 1) which socio-professional backgrounds make actors willing to resist or to adopt the reforms; 2) the extent to which inter-professional relationships, professional expertise and working practices are affected when state units undergo major restructurings.
Keywords
Food safety, animal health, state reforms, professions, professional-bureaucrats, veterinarians, chemical engineers, food engineers