Co-production in Professional Practice: A Sociomaterial Analysis

Abstract

Co-production, typically defined as services and products that are planned and delivered in full conjunction with clients, has become a popular policy discourse and prescription for professional practice across a wide range of public services. Literature tends to herald the democratic and even transformative potential of co-production, yet there is little empirical evidence of its processes and negotiations at the front lines of everyday practice. This article adopts a socio-material theoretical frame of professional knowing-in-practice to analyse these negotiations, drawing from a case study of community policing. The argument is situated in terms of implications of these co-production practices for professional learning.