ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concept of social closure, with the aim of adding new dimensions to the study of social closure in the professions. It discusses the role of social closure in F. Parkin's project, and how it entered the sociology of professions. In adopting Parkin's position on social closure, the sociology of professions also inherited features that have been the source of controversy. External social closure, in the form of criteria to regulate entrance, worked to alter the incorporated units. Upon introducing the concept of 'social closure' in Economy and Society, M. Weber specifically pointed out that there are different bases for the closure of communal relationships - purposively rational, as well as value-rational, traditional and affectual. The chapter then highlights some features of Weber's analogy and concept-in-use, and illustrates their potential value to profession studies by engaging in novel metaphorical work and applying it to the analysis of the Swedish academic profession.
