A astrologia como campo profissional em formação

• Main Author: Venuto Adriana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro 1999-01-01
• Series: Dados: Revista de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: Astrology; sociology of organizations; institutionalization
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0011-52581999000400005

The article studies the process of institutionalization of the profession of astrologer, based on an analysis of the struggle of different professional groups to legitimize new ways of thinking and of organizing their field. Two groups have stood out: the modern group, whose proposal for the field is based on the organizational model of modern professions, and the elite group, which seeks to revert to a traditional professional model. Research was conducted among "professional" astrologers in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. Those to be interviewed were initially selected from specialized newspapers and then, once groups had been mapped, the intentional sampling method was applied. The article endeavors to understand if and how these astrologers are creating strategies for their participation in the professional field and what institutional mechanisms have contributed towards creation of a unified cognitive base that will allow these ?professionals? to exercise exclusive control over a given domain of expertise.