Explore the vast range of titles available.

Focusing on professional politicians, this book investigates the interrelationship between political career patterns and political institutions in two of the most widely discussed cases of regionalism: Catalonia and Scotland. It deals with two different yet closely related sets of questions. Firstly, how do professional politicians pursue their careers in the regional context? And secondly, how do they shape and reshape the political institutions in which they pursue these careers? The book is based on extensive empirical research including a comprehensive data set on the careers of Catalan and Scottish parliamentarians, systematic surveys of regional representatives as well as in-depth interviews with a wide range of politicians and experts in both regions. Exploring the effects of political professionalisation on regional democracy, it goes beyond traditional studies of regionalism and decentralization, while its focus on the regional career arena introduces a territorial dimension to the study of political careers.

While many scholars have postulated the decline of membership influence as an important consequence of the professionalisation of civil society organisations (CSOs), other analysts have argued that traditional membership-driven CSOs are resilient and that hiring professionals does not necessarily diminish membership influence. This study sheds light on this issue by analysing membership influence in a representative sample of approximately 2000 CSOs from five European countries and the European level. As members generally have a strong influence on CSOs’ policy positions, our analysis demonstrates that the pessimistic tone in much contemporary scholarly work is largely unwarranted. On the contrary, hiring professionals does not invariably decrease membership influence and can, when members are closely engaged in advocacy work, even facilitate it.

As professionals, adult educators must mediate between different logics of action (professionalism, market, bureaucracy) in their daily work. The article analyses how the academic professionalisation in adult education achieved through university degree programmes in Germany and Serbia – two countries with different levels of professionalisation structures – relates to these logics of action and prepares future adult educators for their professional work. In a qualitative comparative perspective, documents and interviews with people related to three degree programmes are examined in a content analysis. The results show a strong orientation towards professionalism but also the need to consider the other two logics, especially concerning the requirements of changing labour markets and student groups. The analysis of the three logics provides a nuanced view of the connections and discrepancies between country-specific collective professionalisation efforts and the development and design of study programmes as an important professionalisation pathway for adult educators.

This paper addresses a simple, but very important, question. How has the occupational class structure of major world or global cities changed in recent decades? This has major social and theoretical implications given the claims made by Friedmann (1986) and Sassen (1991) regarding social polarisation in world or global cities. The paper outlines and compares three positions regarding the changing occupational class structure of world cities and of Western societies in general: professionalisation, proletarianisation and social polarisation. The paper does not provide original empirical evidence. Instead, it provides a wide-ranging overview of evidence from existing studies in a range of cities in both Global North and South over the last 50 years. It concludes that whereas professionalisation is common to most global cities, there is little evidence for proletarianisation, and that polarisation is a contingent outcome in certain cities at certain times. The claims for a common universal pattern are rejected and variations in national economic, political and social structure and policy are argued to be more important. 本文探讨一个虽然简单但非常重要的问题。近几十年来，世界或全球主要城市的职业阶层结构发生了怎样的变化？鉴于弗里德曼(1986年)和萨森(1991年)提出的、世界或全球城市将发生社会两极分化的主张，这具有重大的社会和理论意义。本文概述并比较了关于世界城市和西方社会职业阶层结构变化的三种观点：专业化、无产阶级化和社会两极分化。本文没有提供原始的经验证据。相反，我们对过去50年内对全球南方和全球北方城市现有研究证据的广泛综述。本文的结论是，专业化在大多数全球城市都很普遍，无产阶级化的证据很少，两极分化是某些城市在特定时间的偶然结果。存在普遍规律的主张被否定，国家经济、政治和社会结构及政策的差异被认为更为重要。

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyse historical events to argue the improbable prospect of radical accounting reform in corporate financial reporting (CFR) due to the absence of abstract accounting knowledge as part of accountancy professionalisation (AP).Design/methodology/approachA historical database of CFR and AP events in the UK is categorised and analysed to observe the evolution of accounting in CFR from the perspective of the sociology of professions relating to abstract knowledge in professionalisation.FindingsCFR has always been a statutory function in the UK dependent on arbitrary accounting rules rather than expert measurements based on abstract accounting knowledge. Accounting rules have evolved as part of AP and currently form part of the statutory regulation of CFR. The accountancy profession has eschewed abstract accounting knowledge in a mutually beneficial and uncompetitive relationship with the law profession in CFR.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to the history of CFR and AP in the UK and its findings are contrary to the sociology of professions regarding abstract knowledge, consistent with the accountancy profession’s 19th-century experience of court-related services, and indicative of normative accounting research’s redundancy.Practical implicationsRegarding CFR and AP in the UK, the accountancy profession is an expert subordinate branch of the law profession and has no incentive to alter the status quo of statutory accounting rule compliance prevailing over abstract accounting knowledge-based expertise in CFR.Originality/valueThe study questions the optimism of prior research of accounting in CFR that suggests the possibility of radical reform using abstract knowledge.

This paper explores the development and current state of andragogy as a scientific discipline in Serbia, with a particular focus on its professionalisation at the University of Belgrade. Despite periods of crisis and societal transitions, andragogy has demonstrated remarkable resilience, remaining relevant and influential in the educational landscape. The current study program at the Department of Andragogy at the University of Belgrade is depicted at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. By analysing master’s and doctoral theses, and published scientific papers, the paper provides insights into the prevalent issues and topics in the field. The findings underscore the impact and relevance of andragogy in Serbia and suggest its future prospects. Upholding its core principles and holistic approach, andragogy can play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the past and the present, leading to the revitalisation of adult education and shaping the trajectory of the discipline itself in Serbia and beyond.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is considered an internationally endorsed educational concept for dealing with global challenges and qualification of teachers is essential for the implementation. This scoping review explores the structures and dynamics of the scientific field of teacher education for sustainable development (TESD) in Germany using six indicators or key questions as an analytical heuristic. An analysis of 154 publications shows that since 2016 the field has grown and become more differentiated but remains fragmented. Stronger integration exists in the subject didactics of biology, geography, and general studies for primary school. Interdisciplinary collaboration is limited, and the discourse is shaped by a few key researchers. TESD research primarily focuses on primary school and upper secondary school as well as student teachers at university. Empirical studies dominate, whereas theoretical work is rare. Overall, the review reveals significant research gaps and underlines the need for more interdisciplinary approaches in TESD.

Based on the assumption that international perspectives play a rather minor role for adult education students in their studies, this paper researches the reasons for participating in international teaching and learning situations during their studies. The paper draws on data from 22 interviews with graduates of three master’s programmes with a focus on adult education at the Universities of Würzburg, Belgrade, and Florence. Based on this data, the reasons for participation include academic, career-related, personal, social, and language-related aspects as well as external circumstances. These reasons indicate starting points for adult education programmes to promote the engagement of their students with international, intercultural, and global perspectives. This can help tailor international teaching and learning settings to students’ needs and requirements.