La sociologie : métier ou profession ? Quand les sociologues prennent position sur l'exercice de la sociologie

Odile Piriou, Is Sociology a Trade or a Profession ? Attitudes of Sociologists about Their Work The sociologist can study his or her own field of activity in several ways. One such way is epistemology, others are history, the analysis of practice or the study of specialist discourses about the practices and objectives of the discipline. This last method is particularly useful in the examination of the evolution of the outstanding ideas concerning the practice of sociology. Study of such ideas from the 1960s to the present time reveals that a recurrent tension has existed between two professional conceptions. One of these conceptions favors the scientific model and the other favors a model of an applied profession. But it remains to explore the ambiguities inherent in these two positions and the reality of the apparent antagonism between them.Piriou Odile. La sociologie : métier ou profession ? Quand les sociologues prennent position sur l'exercice de la sociologie. In: L'Homme et la société, N. 131, 1999. Politique des sciences sociales. pp. 43-64