Just a Job?: Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life

The concept of "professionalism" has gained everyday resonance in the twenty-first century, especially given recent corporate scandals. However, George Cheney argues, as much as it may be discussed, professionalism has lost much of its broader social and community-related implications, as the trends of careerism, consumerism, and contingent employment have challenged and eroded collective senses of professional responsibility. In addition, professionalism has become depoliticized, even as it has continued to manifest certain racial, class-oriented, and gender biases in many contexts. In Just a Job?, Cheney explores everyday practices in contemporary professional ethics.

George Cheney is Professor of Communication and Director of the Tanner Human Rights Center and Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Utah. He is Adjunct Professor of Management Communication at The University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ. In the fall of 2010, he will become the John T. Jones Professor of Communication Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, USA. He has published widely, and has taught, consulted, and participated in service projects on several continents.

Dan Lair is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Ethics in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver. His research has appeared in outlets including Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Yearbook, and the Handbook of Organizational Discourse.

Dean Ritz is a consultant for corporate compliance. His research on ethics has been published in outlets including the New College of California Law Review, the journal Ethical Space, and most recently in the Oxford University Press volume The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility.

Brenden Kendall is a doctoral candidate and Steffensen Cannon Research Fellow in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. His research has been published in outlets including Environmental Communication and the Oxford University Press volume The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility.