Déformation Professionnelle as a

Motif for the Construction of

Occupational Identity:
The Example of Seafarers
 About Me

●
Marie Grasmeier
●
Bremen University (Germany)
●
Doctoral Candidate
●
Social Anthropology
 Doctoral Thesis (1)

●
„Occupational Culture and Occupational Identity
of Seafarers on Internationally Crewed
Merchant Ships“
●
Ethnographic field research and auto-
ethnography
●
Sea-going background
 Doctoral Thesis (2)
Ethnicity
Seafarers
and
‚Landlubbers‘
Background
Identities
Occupational
Identities

Organisational Class
Identities Gender

Departments
Leader/
Follower Officers/
Ratings
 Hypothesis

●
Ex-Seafarers retain a strong sense of belonging
to the occupational group
●
Emphasised by retaining certain practices that
belong to life at sea in shore based settings
●
They orchestrate what is called a „déformation
professionnelle“ as a means of identity
performance
 Case Material

●
Painting the server room
●
Sea-talk ashore
 Theoretical Framework
Frame Analysis
Déformation
(Goffman 1986)
Professionnelle
(Warnotte 1937)

Interaction Order
Case (Goffman 1983;
Boundary Work Garfinkel 1967)
(Barth 1969)

Boundary Making
(Wimmer
2009; 2008a; 2008b) Habitus
(Bourdieu
1990; 1984; 1977)
 Déformation Professionelle

●
Daniel Warnotte
●
Tendency of occupational role bearers to
unconsciously apply occupational habits to non-
work related situations
●
Internalised behaviour
●
Inappropriate => breech of the rules of
interaction
 Situational Frames

●
Erving Goffman
●
Frame determines the meaning of a social
situation
●
Expectations of and by participants
●
Example: conference presentation
 Habitus

●
Pierre Bourdieu
●
„history turned into nature“ (Bourdieu 1977: 78)
●
„durably inscribed in the body and in belief“
(Bourdieu 1990: 58)
●
„function below the level of consciousness“
(Bourdieu 1984: 466)
●
Internalised social structure which in turn
structures individual behaviour
 Déformation Professionelle

●
Deeply rooted in everyday life / cultural schema
●
Clichés about occupational groups
●
Function: stereotyping / attribution to out-group
●
Example: teachers who cannot stop teaching
 Hypothesis

●
The (ex-)seafarers play with the idea of
déformation professionelle
●
Symbolically emphasise belonging
●
Behaviour and reaction by outsiders mark
boundary between in-group and out-group
 Boundary Work

●
Frederik Barth
●
„Cultural stuff“ vs. process of boundary work
●
How are boundaries between ethnic (and other)
groups created, maintained, shifted or
abandoned?
●
Boundary work (Barth 1969)
●
Boundary making (Wimmer 2009; 2008a;
2008b)
 Déformation Professonelle

●
Déformation professionelle may be a real issue
for seafarers
●
Adaption to life at sea => mal-adaption to life
ashore
●
Example: Lamvik (2002): Seafarers who
interacted with their families like captains with
their crews
 Conclusion

●
Here: different phenomenon
●
Idea of déformation professionnelle is
appropriated creatively to perform identity and
construct a sense of belonging
●
Orchestration of déformation professionnelle as
a strategy of boundary work
Thank you very much for your attention
 Bibliography
Barth, Frederik
(1969); Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organisation of Culture Difference
Bourdieu, Pierre
(1977); Outline of a Theory of Practice
(1984); Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste
(1990); The Logic of Practice

Garfinkel, Harold
(1967); Studies in Ethnomethodology
Goffman, Erving
(1983); The Interaction Order
(1986); Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience
Lamvik, Gunnar M.
(2002); The Filipino Seafarer: A Life between Sacrifice and Shopping
Warnotte, Daniel
(1937); Bureaucratie et fonctionnarisme
Wimmer, Andreas
(2008a); The Making and Unmaking of Ethnic Boundaries: A Multilevel Process Theory
(2008b); Elementary Strategies of Ethnic Boundary Making
(2009); Herder’s Heritage and the Boundary-Making Approach: Studying Ethnicity in Immigrant
Societies