« De la fourche à la fourchette » : une recomposition des territoires d’activité chez les professionnels suisses du contrôle sanitaire des aliments ?

Abstract

The professionals-bureaucrats working in the food safety sector are facing reforms at the European level. They have to cooperate to make the control over the “food chain” more “efficient”. Are therefore the two facets of their identities – the professional and the bureaucratic one – changing? The sociology of professions provides useful insights for the study of identity at work by examining professional jurisdictions and careers paths. In the Swiss context, it shows that state veterinarians, chemical engineers and food engineers succeed for the moment in maintaining their own jurisdiction. This result discusses how far and under which conditions professional logics adapt to bureaucratic and managerial restructurings.

Keywords

• food
• control
• professional identity
• bureaucracy
• administrative restructurings
• career paths