Doing Jurisdictional Work: Organizations and the Nurturing of Professionalization

There has been significant attention to professionalization projects, although the focus has so far been almost exclusively on how professionals themselves engage in actions designed to claim or extend their jurisdiction. We build on recent work exploring a potentially symbiotic relationship between organizations and professionals, to explain how organizational actors can encourage and facilitate processes of professionalization. Drawing on data from China, we studied the experiences of Community Health Centers (CHCs) as they participated in the development of the General Practitioner profession. We develop a conceptual model explicating three sub-processes that organizations can enact to support the efforts of new professionals as they attempt to realize the extent of their jurisdiction within workplace settings. By highlighting the jurisdictional work of organizational actors, we contribute to the literature by developing a more nuanced understanding of the symbiotic relationship between organizations and professionals. We also contribute to the literature by showing how organizations can provide opportunities for professionals to establish relational authority and claim jurisdiction as they engage in the co-production of professionalization projects.