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Habitus and the practice of public service

Bibliographic Data

ID2373112
AuthorsPeggy Mcdonough (University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume20
Issue4
Pages629-647
Publication date2006-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017006069805
OpenAlexW2158040384
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited41

This article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the public service ethos under municipal government restructuring. Using Bourdieu's theory of practice, it suggests, first, that public service makes public servants through socialization in the public service habitus.This gives practice a prereflective, embodied and immediate character. Second, it links the public service habitus to field struggles over the definition of the public good. Front-line workers' tacit recognition of a 'traditional' vision of the universal good means that they will defend it in the face of threats by those attempting to impose alternative visions of the state as an extension of the market. Finally, the article offers an empirically grounded understanding of public servants making public service.Through their daily practices, including the practical practice of public service, embodied public service and defence of public service, workers reproduce, usually unconsciously, this traditional vision of the public good

Business · Cultural capital · Ethos · Habitus · Political science · Public relations · Public service · Service (business · Social science · Sociology · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Marketing

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Unique citing works27
Citations per year1,5
Citation span2008 - 2024 (17)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 27
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