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The Acquisitive Society · Theme

Industry as a Profession

How The Acquisitive Society develops Industry as a Profession.

Tawney proposes reorganizing industry on the model of a profession, where work is governed by standards of service, competence, and ethical conduct, rather than by the profit motive and shareholder interests.

Where it surfaces

  • The Functional Society

    The author proposes that industry should be organized as a profession, with responsibility placed on producers and consumers rather than absentee owners.

  • Industry as a Profession

    The chapter's title and core proposal: reorganizing industry as a profession, with service as the criterion of success and rules to enforce professional standards.

  • The Position of the Brain Worker

    The chapter centrally proposes turning industry into a profession, where brain workers become function-based professionals rather than profit-driven employees.

  • Porro Unum Necessarium

    Proposes that professional organizations should govern industry, with producers having direct responsibility to the community and subject to consumer supervision.