Professions in Theory and History: Rethinking the Study of Professions ed. by Michael Burrage, Rolf Torstendahl, and: The Formation of Professions: Knowledge, State, and Strategy ed. by Rolf Torstendahl, Michael Burrage (review)

284 THE C. akNADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW process ofrecasting Lower Canadian legal structures andattitudes through legislation and proselytizing to introducethosefundamentals of mid-nineteenthcentury political economy - freedom ofcontract andsecurity andfree alienability ofproperty. Members of thefirmdid notsitin thelegislature or ongovernment commissions, but provided ideological leadership andtech. nical expertise totheprocess oftransforming theLower Canadian sodety and economy. This is alsoa themein BrianYoung'scompanion pieceon Cartier. All theessays hereareworthreading fortheinformation theyconvey. Some, likethose ofBaker,Marchildon, andWiltonin particular, gobeyond thatandsuggest newlines ofinquiry intoprecisely whatrolewasplayed by lawyers and the legalprofession in the crucialtransition from a commercial to an industrialworldthatmarkedthecenturybetween1830and 1930. JIMI'HILLI• University ofToronto Professions in T&ory andHistory: Rethinking theStudy ofProfessions. Edited • MICHAEL BURRAGE and ROLF TORSTENDAHL. London:SagePublications 1990. Pp.viii, 248.$47.50 T& Formation of Professions: Knowledge, State, andStrategy. Editedby RO•F TORSTENDAHL andMICHAEL BURRAGE. London: SagePublications 1990.Pp• viii, 216. $47.50 Art historian ErwinPanofsky oncelikenedthetheoretical bentof sociologists and the historians' empirical concerns to neighbouts huntingin thesame field,onlyonehasthegun,theothertheammunition. Thisstoryistoldby M.S. Larsonin oneof twonewbooksdedicated to unitingscholars in a hunt for a betterunderstanding oftheprofessions - a controversial subject within sociology andsocial history. Editedby Swedish historianRoll Torstendahl and Britishsociologist Michael Burrage, these books contain twenty-two original essays byleading British,European, andNorthAmerican scholars. Theyare the product af threemajorconferences andseveral workshops andmeetings organized by the recently formedSwedish Collegium forAdvanced Studyin the• Sciences. The Formation ofProfessions examines theuseofexpertknowledge andthe roleofthestate in professional development; Professions inTheory and II'•uto• identifies critical problems oftheory andmethod. Together theypresent a varietyof newideasandapproaches to thestudyof theprofessions. They stress theneedtodevelop a morecomprehensive theory oftheprofessions, whileemphasizing theinadequacies ofexisting thet•ry, particularly theb• d Anglo-American models of professionalizafion that hasinformedsomuch writingonthe professions. REVIEWS 285 Editor Michael Burrage andother contributors admit thatmuch early :•dologica1 theorizing restedon thissortof narrowethnocentric evidence. They believe thattheprofessions should bestudied in historical context, but they arenevertheless criticalof historians. Inclined to limitedinstitutional studies, fewhistorians, theyargue, study theprofessions collectively asa d•stinct social formation, muchless makeinter-professional orcross-cultural comparisons. Historians haveallbutignored theory andhavefailedto use the study oftheprofessions asameans ofunderstanding modem society. Thearrival ofhistorians ontheirterritory, moreover, hasbeena mixed blessing forsociologists. While theGaztarbe/ter learn more about professions, t•)•eir empirical findings sometimes undermine cherished sociological notions, such astheassumption thatthere was a casual relationship between therise oftheprofessions andtheriseofcapitalism. Burrage does notbelieve that h'morians andsociologists will joinhands incommon cause, butheisoptimistkabout developing a moreinformed theory of theprofessions thatcan •ccommodate bothhistorical andsociological evidence. These volumes area boldattempt to achieve thisloftyobjective. They _contain anassortment of interesting essays; theones byBurrage arepar6culary good. Otheressays worth reading arebyRandall Collins (theory), gayrnond Murphy (market closure), Charles McClelland (German profes- •sk)nals), and Hannes Siegrist (methodology). Essays by Inga Hellberg (Swedish veterinarians), Lucien Karpik (French lawyers), andKlas ,•n'nark (market closure)alsoare useful. These essays may notappeal toeveryone. Most arewritten bysociologists and areverytheoretical in content. This will do littleto overcome historians' traditional bias against theory. Moreover, apart fromMurphy, noauthor examines Canadian professions, oruses sex andgender asacategory ofanalysis. Aant Elzinga's essay onSwedish nursing education istheexception. These volumes demonstrate thatscholarship ontheprofessions is not exactly the 'intellectual shambles' prominent American sociologist Eliot ];reidson described in 1984. Nevertheless, in spite ofsome praiseworthy essays andthegood intentions oftheeditors, itislikely thatsociologists and hstorians willcontinue tohunt thesame quarry, never quite agreeing on ,/1•should have boththegunandtheammunition. j RODNEY MILLARD University of Western Ontario •k•e Beginnings ofCanadian Meteorology. MORLEY THOI•LS.S. Toronto: ECW Press 1991. Pp.vi,308,illus.$40.00 0œ course, everyone talks about theweather. Yet,ina country likeours, '•h]ch has somuch ofit, it iscurious thatsofewpeople have bothered •riting about it.AsMorley Thomas relates inthis first attempt attelling the ...