Professionnalisation et transformation de la hiérarchie sociale des agriculteurs

Specialisation and professionalisation, which can be considered as main features of agricultural modernisation, are not merely economical and technical changes. Specialisation is associated with the division and social hierarchy of tasks and knowledge wich consecrate the dominance of technical culture upon peasant's skill culture. In the same way the professional farmer is not only - and ultimately not necessarily - he who keeps in the avant-garde of technical progress, he is foremost someone who is part of the «profession». The professionalisation of the occupation makes sense only in relation to the transformation of those criteria of competence and selection linked to the withering away of traditional social structures and the rise of professional organisations.