Sociological Conceptualisations of ‘Career’: A Review and Reorientation Valentina Cuzzocrea 1 * and Dawn Lyon 2 1 Universita ` di Cagliari 2 University of Kent Abstract In the last decades, the use and meaning of the concept of career has profoundly changed, shaped by a ‘new career’ literature rhetoric and a move away from mainstream sociological debate. Our aim in this article is to provide a critical assessment of the concept, and to make a productive con- tribution to the current debate on careers, and work more generally. Specifically, we seek to: (i) critique the lack of elaboration of the concept within the discipline of sociology in recent years; (ii) reposition the concept of careers as a key sociological category; and (iii) assess and reorient the current meanings of career. After tracing the history of career from linear to boundaryless, we sit- uate the concept in a broader sociological understanding of gender and habitus and structure and agency, and through a methodological discussion of narrative approaches for studying careers. These concepts and approaches are especially effective for understanding careers. Having showed the added value of the concept of career for sociology, we conclude with a research agenda which attempts to overcome the voluntaristic pitfall of its use in recent years and opens up a more thoughtful and articulated understanding of careers for both teaching and research. Introduction This article offers a critical assessment and a reorientation of the concept of career. We critique the lack of elaboration of the concept within the discipline of sociology in recent years, and we argue for its relevance and usefulness for making sociological sense of the working lives of people, especially in the context of current economic and social changes. Following our review of the use and understanding of ‘careers’ into the 21st century, we critically discuss the so-called ‘new career literature’ and its overemphasis on agency. To explore the sociological strength and potential of career, we have selected the concepts of gender and habitus and structure and agency from current mainstream sociological litera- ture to shape our discussion. We demonstrate how they speak through the notion of career, permitting us to assess it within a broader sociological perspective. The selection of these concepts is partial and deliberate. They are central sociological ideas and espe- cially powerful for making sense of careers and highlighting the value of the concept. Finally, we discuss researching careers with a focus on methodology, notably narrative approaches. Again, this best allows us to demonstrate the merit of working with a socio- logical understanding of careers. We conclude with a discussion of the value of the con- cept of careers for sociology today and with a research agenda for the field. Positioning career studies A key objective of this article is to reposition the concept of ‘career’ within the discipline of sociology, a need which has arisen both as a result of the ways in which careers have Sociology Compass 5/12 (2011): 1029–1043, 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00429.x ª 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd