Hybrid Professionalism in Municipal Culture: Training, Functions and Identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/pp.6635Emneord (Nøkkelord):
hybrid professionalism, professional identity, cultural workers, jurisdictional competition, sociocultural animation, cultural management, professionalization, territorial professionalismSammendrag
This study examines how territorial scale conditions professionalism in fields that lack jurisdictional closure—a condition common to many public-sector occupations but largely unexamined in the literature on hybrid professionalism. It analyzes the case of municipal culture professionals in Galicia (Spain), a field contested by three occupational groups: social educators, cultural managers and sociocultural animators. A mixed-methods design combines a survey of 147 professionals across 313 municipalities with 16 interviews. The results reveal a highly qualified collective (85% with university degrees) but marked disciplinary dispersion, and a functional distribution in which managerial tasks (84.3%) far exceed sociocultural dynamization (29.9%); only 28.5% perceive correspondence between job title and actual functions. The study proposes the concept of territorial hybrid professionalism: municipalities with fewer resources paradoxically sustain closer socio-educational practice, showing that organizational scale, not resource endowment alone, shapes which forms of professional practice are possible.
Nedlastinger
Referanser
Abbott, A. (1988). The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labor. University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226189666.001.0001
AGPXC. (2020). Conceptualización y descripción de los puestos de trabajo en los departamentos de cultura en las organizaciones culturales profesionales [Conceptualization and description of job positions in culture departments within professional cultural organizations]. Asociación Galega de Profesionais da Xestión Cultural. https://xestoresculturais.gal/arquivo/materiales/conceptualizacion-y-definiciones.pdf
ASEDES. (2007). Documentos profesionalizadores [Professionalizing documents]. Asociación Estatal de Educación Social. https://www.eduso.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Documentos-profes-Sept-2007.pdf
Belfiore, E. (2022). Who cares? At what price? The hidden costs of socially engaged arts labour and the moral failure of cultural policy. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 25(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420982863
Bernal Ruiz, L. (2009). El perfil formativo del gestor cultural en España [The training profile of the cultural manager in Spain]. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. https://hdl.handle.net/10609/9562
Bock, C. (2022). L'animation socioculturelle: émergence et structuration des diplômes comme indicateurs de la professionnalisation [Sociocultural animation: The emergence and structuring of qualifications as indicators of professionalization]. Agora débats/jeunesses, 90(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.3917/agora.090.0007
Bonet, L., & Négrier, E. (2018). The participative turn in cultural policy: Paradigms, models, contexts. Poetics, 66, 64–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2018.02.006
Caride, J. A. (1998). Paradigmas teóricos en la animación sociocultural [Theoretical paradigms in sociocultural animation]. In J. Trilla (Ed.), Animación sociocultural: Teorías, programas y ámbitos [Sociocultural animation: Theories, programs and fields] (pp. 41–60). Ariel.
Caride, J. A. (2005). La animación sociocultural y el desarrollo comunitario como educación social [Sociocultural animation and community development as social education]. Revista de Educación, 336, 73–88.
Caride, J. A., & Pose, H. (2021). Proxecto XERF@: Formación e profesionalización da acción cultural pública en Galicia [XERF@ Project: Training and professionalization of public cultural action in Galicia]. Xunta de Galicia. http://www.xerfa.gal
CEESG. (2025). Edusogal: Estudo diagnóstico sobre a situación da Educación Social en Galicia [Edusogal: Diagnostic study on the situation of Social Education in Galicia]. Colexio de Educadoras e Educadores Sociais de Galicia. https://ceesg.gal/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/INFORME_EDUSOGAL_2025.pdf
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Consello da Cultura Galega. (2024). Barómetro da cultura galega 2024 [Barometer of Galician culture 2024]. Consello da Cultura Galega. https://doi.org/10.17075/bcg.06.2024
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Ellmeier, A. (2003). Cultural entrepreneurialism: On the changing relationship between the arts, culture and employment. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 9(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1028663032000069158a
Evetts, J. (2003). The sociological analysis of professionalism: Occupational change in the modern world. International Sociology, 18(2), 395–415. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580903018002005
Evetts, J. (2011). A new professionalism? Challenges and opportunities. Current Sociology, 59(4), 406–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392111402585
FEAGC. (2009). Libro blanco de las asociaciones de profesionales de la gestión cultural [White paper on associations of cultural management professionals]. Federación Estatal de Asociaciones de Gestores Culturales. https://feagc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/libroblancofeagcoctubre2009.pdf
FEAGC. (2012). Reconocimiento del epígrafe de "Gestores Culturales" [Recognition of the "Cultural Managers" occupational category]. https://feagc.com/reconocimiento-del-epigrafe-de-gestores-culturales/
FEAGC. (2019). Descripción del puesto de trabajo de la gestión cultural en España (DPTGC) [Job description for cultural management in Spain]. Federación Estatal de Asociaciones de Profesionales de la Gestión Cultural. https://feagc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/dptgcfeagc-revision-noviembre-2019.pdf
Fournier, V. (1999). The appeal to ‘professionalism’ as a disciplinary mechanism. The Sociological Review, 47(2), 280–307. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.00173
Fowler, F. J. (2014). Survey research methods (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism, the third logic: On the practice of knowledge. University of Chicago Press.
Gillet, J.-C. (2006). La animación en la comunidad: Un modelo de animación socioeducativa [Animation in the community: A model of socio-educational animation]. Graó.
Góral, A. (2025). In the labyrinth of culture: Professional development paths for public cultural organizations’ workers. Cultural Trends, 35(1), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2025.2479153
Góral, A. (2026). Navigating through the labyrinth: Career of cultural workers in the context of the theory of competing institutional logics. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2026.2641562
Gradaílle Pernas, R., Varela Crespo, L., & Caballo Villar, M. B. (2024). Profesionales de la acción cultural municipal: Necesidades formativas ante la transformación digital [Municipal cultural action professionals: Training needs in the face of digital transformation]. Revista Prisma Social, 46, 29–53. https://revistaprismasocial.es/ps/article/view/5529
Jensen, S. K. (2019). What a curator needs to know – the development of professional museum work and the skills required in Danish museums 1964–2018. Museum Management and Curatorship, 34(5), 468–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2019.1641832
Jerolmack, C., & Khan, S. (2014). Talk is cheap: Ethnography and the attitudinal fallacy. Sociological Methods & Research, 43(2), 178–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124114523396
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. SAGE Publications. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781849208963
Larson, M. S. (1977). The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. University of California Press.
Lindström Sol, S. (2023). “Participation is important, but—” Professional rationalities of balancing acts in publicly funded cultural institutions. Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, 26(1), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.18261/nkt.26.1.4
Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services (30th anniversary expanded ed.). Russell Sage Foundation.
Maguire, J. S., & Matthews, J. (2012). Are we all cultural intermediaries now? An introduction to cultural intermediaries in context. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 15(5), 551–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549412445762
Martinell, A., & Marcé, X. (1995). Perfil y formación de gestores culturales [Profile and training of cultural managers]. Ministerio de Cultura.
Noordegraaf, M. (2007). From “pure” to “hybrid” professionalism: Present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Administration & Society, 39(6), 761–785. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399707304434
Noordegraaf, M. (2015). Hybrid professionalism and beyond: (New) forms of public professionalism in changing organizational and societal contexts. Journal of Professions and Organization, 2(2), 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jov002
Ortega, C., González-Rueda, A., & Verdet, J. (2019). Perfil del gestor cultural municipal [Profile of the municipal cultural manager] (Report). Observatorio Cultural del Proyecto Atalaya / FAMP. https://www.famp.es/export/sites/famp/.galleries/documentos-obs-cultura-local/Perfil-Gestor-Cultural.pdf
Pose-Porto, H. (2006). La cultura en las ciudades. Un quehacer cívico-social [Culture in cities: A civic and social endeavor]. Graó.
Pose-Porto, H., & Caride, J. A. (2022). De la formación a la profesionalización en la acción cultural: Realidades y perspectivas de futuro en las políticas públicas (Proyecto Xerf@ en Galicia) [From training to professionalization in cultural action: Realities and future prospects in public policy (XERF@ Project in Galicia)]. Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas, 30(74). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.6675
Rius-Ulldemolins, J., & Rubio-Arostegui, J. A. (Eds.). (2016). Treinta años de políticas culturales en España: Participación cultural, gobernanza territorial e industrias culturales [Thirty years of cultural policies in Spain: Cultural participation, territorial governance and cultural industries]. Universitat de València.
Rubio-Arostegui, J. A., & Rius-Ulldemolins, J. (2012). La modernización de la gestión pública de la cultura. Análisis comparado del caso de los equipamientos culturales de las comunidades autónomas de Cataluña y Madrid [The modernization of public cultural management: A comparative analysis of cultural facilities in the autonomous communities of Catalonia and Madrid]. Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas, 8, 11–34. https://doi.org/10.24965/gapp.v0i8.10002
Sternal, M. (2007). Cultural policy and cultural management related training: Challenges for higher education in Europe. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 37(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.3200/JAML.37.1.65-78
Trilla, J. (1988). Animación sociocultural, educación y educación no formal [Sociocultural animation, education and non-formal education]. Educar, 13, 17–41. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/educar.381
Úcar, X. (1992). La animación sociocultural [Sociocultural animation] (1st ed.). Ediciones CEAC.
Ventosa, V. J. (2002). Fuentes de la animación sociocultural en Europa [Sources of sociocultural animation in Europe]. CCS.
Ventura, A. (2020). La gestión cultural en el ámbito local gallego: las funciones del educador/a social [Cultural management in the Galician local sphere: The functions of the social educator]. RES. Revista de Educación Social, 31, 28–54. https://eduso.net/res/revista/31/el-tema-revisiones/la-gestion-cultural-en-el-ambito-local-gallego-las-funciones-del-educador-a-social
Zallo, R. (2011). Estructuras de la comunicación y de la cultura: Políticas para la era digital [Structures of communication and culture:
Nedlastinger
Publisert
Hvordan referere
Utgave
Seksjon
Lisens
Opphavsrett 2026 Julio Esparís-Pereiro, Rita Gradaílle Pernas, Antonio García-Vinuesa, Yésica Teijeiro Bóo

Dette verket er lisensiert under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).