An Honourable Profession: Public Employees and Identity Construction in Chile, 1880–1920

Abstract

This paper analyses how public employees at two Chilean government offices constructed their occupational identities. In contrast to the vast majority of previous work, which took the 1920s as its starting point, this study focuses on the period between 1880 and 1920. Additionally, the construction of identity is analysed in direct relation to performance in the workplace. The paper asserts that public criticism of their performance prompted public employees to develop an image of themselves based on the concept of their honourability as competent and honest workers.

The Omnipresence of the State? The Twentieth Century

“…49 The number of people employed by the railway, postal service, schools, courts, and public institutions grew rapidly, and the regulatory bodies overseeing these activities, originally rather small and initially focused on national accounting, public finance (hacienda), and the organization of the armed forces and internal security, went on to become large bureaucracies. 50 By the end of the nineteenth century, public employment and its regulation had become a salient issue in the debates about the future of public administration in the different countries. The need to form a body of state bureaucrats with a shared sense of identity and purpose -one conducive to carrying out their functions efficiently, consistently, and competently -became a prime objective of the reformers.…”

Carreras administrativas en Chile, 1884-1920 ¿Patronazgo o carreras burocráticas?

“…De hecho, entre 1880 y 1920, en la opi-nión pública aparecieron diversos reproches contra empleados públicos, que apuntaron tanto a la calidad de su trabajo como a sus hábitos de vida. En respuesta a esto, los funcionarios hicieron esfuerzos por construir una identidad laboral que les permitiera ser considerados personas decentes 23 .…”