The colonisation of elite professional work: Medical consultants and the neoliberal project

Purpose: The paper analyses the changes to consultants’ professional status and autonomy resulting from corporate colonisation and the neoliberal project. Design/methodology/approach: The interview data forms part of a... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: The paper analyses the changes to consultants’ professional status and autonomy resulting from corporate colonisation and the neoliberal project.

Design/methodology/approach: The interview data forms part of a wider study of elite professional groups. Informed by a critical realist methodology, semi-structured interviews and analysis explored the policy and organisational contexts of informants, and how these influenced their experiences as professionals.

Findings: Despite professional resistance, respondents struggled to maintain their professional autonomy in the light of widespread managerialisation. Respondents note potential for further challenge to professionalisation processes associated with changes to contracts and training structures.

Research limitations/implications: This is a small scale and exploratory study, with further interrogation required. However it begins to respond to calls to explore the new organisational professionalism.

Originality/value: The paper explicates a wider range of mechanisms than previously recognised through which neoliberalism has colonised medical professionalism.

Keywords: Corporate colonisation; neoliberalism; medical elites; new public management; resistance