Publication (142 pages).

Self-proclaimed
experts
A recent phenomenon in society is the
creation of what is termed ‘self-proclaimed
experts’.
This describes the commencement
of positions of authority
that introduce people as
‘experts’ on a topic.
Their job is to teach other people in society how
to do a particular skill, or to aid them while they
are doing it. Although this may sound like a
form of teacher or academic, the key difference
is that these positions are not trained positions
and are often for behaviours that have not previously
required experts. They usually do not require
a honed or extensively learned skill and do
not require a specific type of education. Despite
this, these experts are able to charge money for
their services; even though they have no formal
training, society sees them as legitimate experts
in their field. This type of category includes personal
trainers, party planners, life tutors, and academic
coaches. Many areas that have become
problematized in society have made space for
a self-proclaimed expert, including hoarding.
Self-proclaimed experts add an interesting facet
to moral regulation because their hireable skills
signal a right and wrong way of doing things
where before there was none. The presence of a
self-proclaimed expert suggests that the person
was doing things the wrong way and needed assistance
to correct their behaviour, despite the
behaviour having no previous regulation on it.
The skills that end up requiring self-proclaimed
experts are picked in a subjective manner, often
chosen for their potential for profit.
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