Léonie Hénaut

New public management and the professions within cultural organizations: one hybridization may hide another:

With the introduction into public organizations of management methods borrowed from the private sector, ‘new public management’ often comes across as a factor that weakens professional autonomy. Cultural industry is no exception to this phenomenon, as demonstrated by the case of the facilitators or interpreters in France (médiateurs culturels). However, a careful study of the development of this occupation does reveal that, rather than a strict opposition between a professional logic and managerial logic, hybridization is possible. Indeed, professional groups can benefit from the establishment of methods that structure their activity and that take on board the dynamics of knowledge and career pathways. Points for practitioners The research presented here raises the question of how to reconcile the streamlining of public activities (new public management approaches) with the challenges of preserving or developing professions. Practitioners can thus see, through a case study and the presentation of a generic grid analysis, the different ways of structuring and managing the professions, with the emphasis on adopting an approach that ensures coherence between the skills necessary for each activity and the skills defined and career paths offered to the players. Far from being at odds, this kind of articulation makes it possible to hybridize the organizational logic of the new public management with the professional logic of the professions.

La professionnalisation de la conservation-restauration et ses limites : une analyse à deux voix

Le present article est le fruit d’une rencontre entre une professionnelle de la conservation-restauration et une sociologue. La premiere exerce depuis vingt ans et a toujours ete tres investie dans la promotion de sa profession, notamment au sein de la Federation francaise des professionnels et la conservation-restauration (FFCR). La seconde a commence a s’interesser a l’activite de conservation-restauration il y a dix ans dans le cadre de la preparation de sa these de sociologie, et continue d’y travailler aujourd’hui a travers les recherches qu’elle conduit plus largement sur les professions du patrimoine en France et aux Etats-Unis.