In Conversation with Prof. Hans Joas

A Philosophical History of German Sociology, 2009

This work by Frederic Vandenberghe presents a rigorous and comprehensive account of the Critical Theory tradition. I have no hesitation in asserting that it is the best contribution to the subject which has been produced so far. The section on Habermas, in particular, gives a detailed and highly original interpretation of the main phases in the development of the thought of a major contemporary philosopher."

Modern German Sociology, 2021

Originally published in 1987 Modern German Sociology is a collection of essays containing sociological work published in German since World War II. Included are sections from such outstanding figures as Theodor Adorno, Alexander Mitscherlich, Jiirgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, and Ralf Dar endorf. The editors have arranged the essays into five sections that express their view of the chief aspects of modern German sociology and have written a helpful introduction to each section.

Sociology in Germany, 2021

In this chapter, the beginnings of sociology in Germany up until 1945 are presented. Similar to France, in Germany the genesis of sociology is closely linked to the emergence of bourgeois society, industrialization, and the perception of a social and cultural crisis. At the turn of the century, the now well-known “founding fathers,” such as Ferdinand Tönnies, Georg Simmel, and Max Weber, published their classical works. Journals and professional organizations were founded. In the interwar period, sociology became established as an academic discipline at universities. National Socialism brought sociology as an institutionalized and well-established discipline to an end. The Nazis had no interest in sociology as an independent science. But even though sociology cannot be identified as a discipline in the years 1933 to 1945, there were people who worked sociologically. It was in particular their empirical and methodological knowledge that was useful for the Nazis.

2010

Soziologie – Sociology in the German-Speaking World. Soziologische Revue – Special Issue, 2021

This article is an overview of relevant books in the field of the history of sociology and deals with the developments, trends, and essence of research in studies on the history of sociology in the German-speaking world since 2000. It discusses studies on the methodology of the history of sociology, publications on the institutionalization of sociology, on early and modern classics, on national and transnational historiography, and on sociology in face of National Socialism.Although the history of sociology is only rudimentarily institutionalized, especially in Germany, and there are almost no chairs or specialist journals for the history of sociology , we can nevertheless discern a spirit of optimism among younger researchers in this field. At the same time, we still lack a productive exchange with other historiographic sciences.

History of Science, 1985

The question of the social commitment of the sociologist, and the scientist in general, has become a burning issue facing the sociology of East and West alike, — though it may take different forms. (P. C. Ludz, “Sociology”, in C. D Kernig (ed.), Marxism, communism, and Western society (New York, 1973), vol. viii, p. 46.)

2021

Perhaps the most distinct feature of the debates among German-speaking sociologists is the generallys trongi nterest in philosophicallyi nformed theory,m ethodology, and epistemology.The political scientistand sociologist Johan once spokeofa"teutonic" intellectual style in German-speakingcountries,¹ which he compared to the "saxonic" intellectual style in British and US academia. While Galtung sawthe "saxonic" style as being characterized by aprimarilyempirical, strongly data-drivenapproach that is less theory oriented, he perceivedthe "teutonic" style as being marked by astrongerfocus on theory-building and analysis of the underlying paradigms.Although this characterization maybeabit stereotypical, it underlines the fact that German-languages ociologyh as strongr oots in Geisteswissenschaften (humanities) and idealism. As Alvin Gouldnerp ointed out,G erman social science "developedo ut of ad ialecticbetween Romanticism and science" (Gouldner,1973: 93). This tension between Geisteswissenschaften and science,b etween idiographic hermeneutic traditions and nomographic deductive science can be found in the works of the classics, such as Karl Marx, GeorgS immel, and Max Weber,a nd has been al eitmotif in German-language sociologyeversince-with times of more or less "peaceful co-existence" and phases of fierced ebates,s uch as the Popper-Adorno controversy (the so-called Positivismusstreit [positivism dispute]) in the early1960s . Beyond these theoretical and intellectual roots thatextend far back in time, the political and social upheavals of the 20th century left their imprint and continue to influenceG erman-languages ociologys tillt oday. During the Nazi regime,m anys ociologists fled Germanya nd Austria and frequentlyw ent into exile in the United States,w heret hey became influential members of the sociological community, amalgamatingG erman traditions with the US-American style of sociological work. The year 1945m arked ah istorical break that motivated many students to study sociologyw ho later went on to shape the development of the discipline (cf. Bolteand Neidhardt, 1998). As Heinz Bude and Friedhelm Neidhardtdescribein avolume that contains autobiographical memoriesofsociologists of this generation, born in the 1920s, these young people sought to understand this dramatic societal discontinuity, "whereinsome respects everything wasdifferent,but in other respects much remained the same. The politics, the economy, or the lawhad changed radically, but,ifthey had survived, the people in their families, in their neighborhoods, or in the conversations on the corner werebasicallythe sameasbefore" (Bude and Neidhardt, 1998:4 07;o ur translation). This youngg eneration of sociologists,s uch as Ralf Dahrendorf, Renate Mayntz, or ErwinK .S cheuch, was generallyv ery skeptical of 'grand theory,' and was characterized abovea ll by as trongorientation towards empirical research,inmanycases promoted and intensified by research stays in the US (Bolteand Neidhardt, 1998).  According to Fiedler,the "teutonic" intellectual stylecan also be found in Eastern Europe and Russia (2012).  On the various debates, see Kneer and Moebius (2010) and Moebius (HISTORYOFSOCIOLOGY, this volume).  This was also true for the development of East German sociology,which was shaped by Marxism-Leninism and had evolveds eparatelyw ith almost no contact to West German sociology (cf. Meyer, 1994). After unification, the former social-sciencedepartments at GDR academic institutions weredis-AC ompaniontoGerman-LanguageSociology AC ompaniontoGerman-LanguageSociology UtaKarstein and MonikaW ohlrab-Sahr

Sosyoloji Dergisi, 2011

Since the 1990s German sociology is confronted with a lost of its “supremeness of interpretation” of societal trends and processes to other academic disciplines, like biology or anthropology. This may be surprising, if one compares the situation in the 1960s and 1970s, where Sociology in Germany was a leading science, analyzing the problems and contradictions of German society and was important for the academic and intellectual socialization of a generation of young students and scholars. The aim of this article is to give a brief overview about contemporary German sociology, describe the current situation of Sociology in Germany and to give an answer for its actual problems and lost of influence.

Sociological Research Online, 2016

This article is about how sociological research in Germany addresses issues that first seem to be unconnected: young new Fascists and migrants. We will present research in these two areas to show how social scientists contribute to feelings about their respective objects of research. We will argue that although both have cultural disorientation of their study objects as their point of departure, they offer differing explanations for it and as a consequence construct contrasting emotions towards the new Fascists and migrants: they portray new Fascists as disoriented victims of modernization in need of sympathy, while they blame migrants for their disorientation resulting from migration and thus call for indifference or antipathy towards this group. Comparing both research fields we can show that both sets of emotions interconnect and thus form a dichotomous emotional regime. Sociological research helps to sustain lines of inclusion and exclusion from the German society.

Radical Philosophy Review, 2005