New Paths of Professionalization in EU Policy-Making: A Social Topology

In this paper we conceptualize the European Union (EU) as a vital field of professionalization and depict the emergence and various dimensions of an area of professional work nowadays labelled ‘EU Affairs’. Thus, we argue that the EU constitutes more than just a supranational layer of decision-making, but is at the same time a pertinent and influential producer of expert knowledge, preparing the ground for the emergence of specialized job profiles, professional careers, and working contexts. While usually acting ‘in the shadow’ and ‘in the back doors’ of EU policymaking, specialized groups of professionals make use of recognized expert knowledge. Drawing on social field theory and current approaches to professionalism and professionalization, the paper scrutinizes new paths of professionalization in contemporary EU policy-making in a topological manner. In contrast to existing studies of EU-centered professionalization we do not primarily focus on the "Eurocracy" in and around "Brussels", but on numerous jobs and forms of professionalization which have emerged in numerous places and areas all around the EU territory and far beyond. By doing this, we aim to shed light on current developments in EU-related professionalism and on vital dynamics of expertization and specialization in contemporary EU governance.