Respectable Professionals contains the contributions of fifteen experts about the birth of new professions and the modernization of working practices in old trades in nineteenth-century Spain. The authors consider that professionalism and respectability were the most relevant elements which structured the bourgeois society in the nineteenth century. The economic changes resulting from the abolition of guilds, the extension of the competences of the State and the liberalization of the economy contributed greatly to the renewal of the labour market. This process took place while some other transformations gave rise to the bourgeois society, such as the urbanization, the updating of the educational system or the organization of professional networks and associations. Starting from the sociology of professions, the book reflects on the historical and sociocultural elements that influenced the development of professional society through different case studies that allow us to compare with other European countries. Nowadays we are living through similar changes in the labour market that should lead us to look back and learn from the challenges faced by professionals in the past.

Table of Contents:
Contents: David Martínez-Vilches and Raquel Sánchez: History and Sociology of Professions: An Introductory Approach – Renewed Professions – Darina Martykánová and Juan Pan- Montojo: Between the State and the Market: Engineers in Nineteenth-Century Spain – Manuel Amador González Fuertes: The Century of Lawyers: The Making of Social Standing of Legal Professions in Spain (1789–1868) – Professionals of Warfare – Pablo Ortega- del- Cerro: Profession with Honour: Modernization and Legitimation of the Naval Officer Corps (c. 1800–1870) – Diego Cameno Mayo and Jaime Tribaldos Milla: The Nineteenth- Century Soldier: The Professionalization of the Army – Healthcare Professionals – Víctor M. Núñez-García: A Physician and a Gentleman: Individual Dimension of the Collective Pursuit of Social Standing – Carmen González Canalejo and Rubén Mirón-González: The Healthcare Middle Class: Female Professions and Patriarchy (1856–1931) – Literary and Artistic Professionals – Joaquín Álvarez Barrientos: Towards Respectability: Ejercicio cómico and the Acting Profession – Ainhoa Gilarranz- Ibáñez: «Art Is Confused with Trade»: The Defence of the Painter as a Profession in the Spanish Fine Arts (1833–1868) – Raquel Sánchez: Journalism: A Profession for Men of Letters (1820–1920) – Teaching Professionals – Eduardo Higueras Castañeda: Education in the Public Sphere: The Construction of the Reputation of Primary Teachers in Mid- Nineteenth-Century Spain – Cristina Del Prado Higuera: Professionalization of Female Teachers in the Nineteenth Century – Other Professionals – David Martínez-Vilches: An Anti-liberal Profession in Modern Society: The Parish Priest (1833–1868) – David San Narciso: Merchants to Businessmen: The Professionalization of Entrepreneurs in Nineteenth-Century Spain.