This book investigates the shifting nature of professional identity in contemporary organizations, specifically focusing on how knowledge and performativity redefine the 'new' professional. Mike Dent, a sociologist specializing in the healthcare and public sector, utilizes a critical framework to examine how institutional pressures and managerialist agendas influence individual autonomy. The text synthesizes sociological theory with empirical observations to argue that traditional notions of professional expertise are being systematically dismantled by modern bureaucratic requirements.

Experts in organizational sociology recognize this text as a rigorous examination of the pressures facing modern professionals. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is best suited for scholars and practitioners interested in the intersection of management theory and professional identity.