The Professionalisation of Science - Claim and Refusal: Discipline Building and Ideals of Scientific Autonomy in the Growth of Prehistoric Archaeology: the Case of Georges Laplace's Group of Typologie Analytique, 1950s-1990s

Abstract

The majority of analyses investigating the professionalization of scientific domains tend to assume the linear and general features of this transformation. These studies focus on the shift from a non-professionalized state to a professionalized state. This dual approach, however, crucially lacks some other aspects of the process of professionalization. This issue is discussed within the context of the growth of prehistoric archaeology in France from the 1940s, by observing scientific societies, national research organizations and their social networks. Looking at the scale of Georges Laplace’s career and that of his research group, which studied the typologie analytique method, this article demonstrates the benefits of a ternary model which also encompasses the modes of refusal of professionalization.