Urban Sociology in France

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Band 38, Heft 2, S. 311-322

Abstract

Ur sociology in France from 1900 to 1980 is divided into three periods: (1) Until the 1960s, functionalist studies dominated the field. As cases in point, the works of Maurice Halbwachs & Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe are discussed. (2) From the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, neo-Marxist economics was most notable among the various trends. (3) Since 1975, neo-Marxism has declined & studies now focus on the irreducible plurality of concrete examples of collectives & social movements. Underlying this chronological analysis is the idea that the history of sociology is not a contingent succession of theories, nor is it cumulative. It is the polemical history of a field of knowledge, which is constantly trying to construct an autonomy that is denied or threatened by other fields, as represented by institutions or social movements. 2 Photos. AA Tr & Modified by C. Waters