Sociology in Austria
Sociology in Austria has been frequently affected by political developments in the country. This first history of sociology in Austria examines the impact of the break-up of the Habsburg Empire and of two consecutive dictatorships, which destroyed academi
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tles include: Christian Fleck SOCIOLOGY IN AUSTRIA Filipe Carreira da Silva SOCIOLOGY IN PORTUGAL A Short History Anna Larsson and Sanja Magdalenić SOCIOLOGY IN SWEDEN A History Bryan Fanning and Andreas Hess SOCIOLOGY IN IRELAND A Brief History Kirsten Harley and Gary Wickham AUSTRALIAN SOCIOLOGY Fragility, Survival, Rivalry Stephen Turner AMERICAN SOCIOLOGY From Pre-Disciplinary to Post-Normal
Sociology Transformed Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–137–33817–4 hardback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
DOI: 10.1057/9781137435873.0001
‘Christian Fleck, a leading historian of sociology, has created a fascinating sketch of the Austrian experience that will be widely appreciated by all like-minded scholars, especially given the unique characteristics of his country’s approach to the discipline. While very attentive to minutia, about which he knows more than anyone else, Fleck never loses sight of the big picture – the challenges that sociology poses to any society in which it seeks to become institutionalized. Fleck’s book could serve as model for other national histories of social science’. – Alan Sica, Penn State University, USA ‘This is a highly personal overview by a perfectly informed and sharp minded observer of the Germanic academic scene on Austrian sociology of the 20th century, including a very critical study of the promotional system of local universities (liable to reproduce mediocrity). The stress is laid both on intellectual and institutional developments. The story goes from prestigious, mostly extra-mural (non academic) beginnings with heavy participation of Jewish luminaries, to the disastrous break of the 1938 Anschluss, succeeded by ups and downs of a difficult and in part failed reconstruction of academic autonomy. Indeed the post-war years were marked by limited de-Nazification, continuously burdensome academic conservatism, largely linked to the pervasive influence of the Catholic Church and the impact of political power games between the two ruling parties (the infamous “Proporz” system). All this seems to have curbed innovative scholarly productivity as well as the heuristic reception of new Western paradigms, in spite of the growth of student numbers (particularly after the academic reforms of the 1970s) and the emergence of a network of research centers outside universities, beginning with the “Institute of Advanced Studies”, a prototype of sorts. (The latter was funded by the Ford Foundation via the intervention of a by then famous emigrant Paul Lazarsfeld.) All in all a fascinating in-depth report on a singularly deviant case of a dubiously “national” intellectual history. The melancholy conclusion of the author points to “
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