Professionalism as a Technology of White Supremacy
What do we lose personally and collectively when we professionalise our humanity?
Professionalism is often presented as a universal, apolitical framework for conduct in the workplace. It is a standard meant to maintain order and ensure decorum, but it’s deeply embedded in racialised, colonial norms.
The standards of professionalism (how we speak, look, dress, express emotion, and even relate to our colleagues) are ideological impositions that disproportionately regulate and suppress marginalised identities.
They function as a form of surveillance and uphold systems of power that benefit whiteness, maleness, neurotypicality, and economic privilege.
The roots of modern professionalism can be traced back to European Enlightenment ideals which exalted reason, restraint, and individualism (qualities attributed to the rational white man). In colonial contexts, these traits became tools of classification, those who conformed were deemed civilised, those who did not were categorised as irrational and primitive.
Professionalism inherits this legacy. It defines and enforces what is deemed "appropriate" based on Eurocentric, patriarchal values. It rewards dispassion while devaluing emotional expressiveness, non-Western communication styles, and communal approaches to work. The consequence is a system that privileges those who naturally align with these norms and punishes those who do not.