Hybrid professionalism in regulatory governance: the reconfiguration of professionalism in the procurement of social services

This study examines how professionalism is embedded and reshaped through the process of contracting out social services. Analysing tenders for mental health rehabilitation services in Israel, we examine professionalism across four dimensions: credentialed expertise, service standards, training, and ethics. The findings show that professionalism remains central in procurement, but in modified and hybrid forms. Professional expertise, language, and logics are embedded into tendering and contractual arrangements, contributing to the hybridization of professionalism already at the procurement stage. The article concludes by discussing the implications of this reconfiguration for understanding professionalism in the regulatory welfare state.