The author analyses the main aspects of the evolution of the sociologist profession. She does it on the ground of her experience in a sociology located between education and work and on the inventory of a very important corpus of archives from different sources. She rebuilds the history of the sociology of work in France from the 1950s to the 1990s with an analytic schema that could also be used by the sociology of education. She puts that history in its social and intellectual context. She recalls the scientists' actions to define theories, get them recognised and impose scientificity norms for the new generations. She also looks into a set of questions about the sociologist profession: how can one combine autonomy of thought and involvement in their own society? Will the expert image take over of intellectual, specific of the 1950-1960s?
sociology of science; work; theories; methods; expertise