Bringing Values Back to Global Professions: Truth Commissions Professionals as True Believers

• In Event: 505 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Nationalism, Historical Memory, and Reconciliation

Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to the burgeoning body of work on global professionals.I focus on the new global professional field of transitional justice to explore the conditions under which values are the predominant action orientation of global professionals. I examine the professionals within this field who work on truth commissions – a main mechanism of transitional justice. Data is based on ethnographic research in the leading truth commission organization – the Truth Commissions Center (TCC). Current literature understands global professionals to be predominantly oriented by norms and/or self-interest. However, subjects in my study were predominantly driven by values. The difference in action orientation between the professionals in my study and the ones in previous studies can be explained in part by the age of the professional field. Drawing on Weber, I argue that values are the primary orientation of action in relatively young professional fields. Incipient fields and organizations are imbued by what Weber calls 'cultures of charisma,' characterized by a prophetic, creative spirit that dislodges traditional rules and stands in opposition to bureaucracy (Weber 1968; 1978). It is under these conditions that value oriented action can thrive. Given the influx of global professions and organizations with humanitarian missions, like transitional justice, it seems critical to look closely at the conditions that support the values in which these organizations are conceived and thus to learn better how to preserve the ideals of humanitarian initiatives even as the profession expands and changes.

Author

• Kiri Marie Gurd, Boston University