Correspondence between the Russian-American sociologist P.A. Sorokin and the German publisher and sociologist G. Salomon (since 1947 — Salomon-Delatour) is a testament to the sociological thought of Sorokin starting to gain interna-tional recognition. G. Salomon's letters responding to P.A. Sorokin are cited in footnotes, numbered in Latin numerals. The footnotes in Arabic numerals refer to the footnotes behind the text.
The postwar correspondence between P.A. Sorokin, head of the Harvard Centre for the Study of Creative Altruism, and L. von Wiese, President of the German Society for Sociology and publisher of a respected sociological journal from 1950 to 1966, describes their cooperation on issues of general sociology and in the search for practical ways of humanizing the postwar world. It covers notable events in P.A. Sorokin's scientific biography: his conflict with T. Parsons, L. von Wiese's role in its alleviation, Sorokin's creative plans and their implementation, the work of the Research Center for the Study of Creative Altruism, and evidence of recognition of Sorokin's work in West German society. This publication was prepared with support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project №20-011-00451, CGES Saint Petersburg and Bielefeld Universities, Grant №1 from 05.02.2021, on permission from The Pitirim Sorokin Foundation, the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv, BAarch B 320/39) and the Pitirim A. Sorokin Collection, University Archives & Special Collections, the University Library at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Letters written by L.vonWiese as a response to P.A.Sorokin are quoted in footnotes with numbering in Latin numerals. Footnote icons written in Arabic numerals refer to notes that supplement the main text.
The correspondence between P.A. Sorokin, head of the Harvard Centre for the Study of Creative Altruism, and L. von Wiese, president of the German Society for Sociology and publisher of a respected sociological journal, from 1945–1949 is instilled with worldview reflections and a search for a way out of the post-war moral dead-end for European civilization. This publication was prepared with support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 20-011-00451, CGES Saint Petersburg and Bielefeld Universities, Grant No. 1 from 5.02.2021, on authorization from the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv, BAarch B320/39) and the Pitirim A. Sorokin Collection, University Archives & Special Collections, University Library at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Response letters from L. von Wiese to P.A. Sorokin are quoted in footnotes with numbering in Latin numerals. Footnote icons written in Arabic numerals refer to off-text notes.
The correspondence between P.A. Sorokin, head of the Harvard Centre for the Study of Creative Altruism, and L. von Wiese, president of the German Society for Sociology and publisher of a respected sociological journal, from 1945–1949 is instilled with worldview reflections and a search for a way out of the post-war moral dead-end for European civilization. This publication was prepared with support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 20-011-00451, CGES Saint Petersburg and Bielefeld Universities, Grant No. 1 from 5.02.2021, on authorization from the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv, BAarch B320/39) and the Pitirim A. Sorokin Collection, University Archives & Special Collections, University Library at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Response letters from L. von Wiese to P.A. Sorokin are quoted in footnotes with numbering in Latin numerals. Footnote icons written in Arabic numerals refer to off-text notes.
This article presents an introduction to the publication of "Foreword" (1940) — prepared by P.A. Sorokin (1889–1968), a Russian and American sociologist — for the first American edition of "Community and Society" (1887) by F. Tönnies (1855‒1936), a German sociologist. "Foreword" is examined as a standalone theoretical piece in order to complete the historical-sociological facts and circumstances of its creation and publication, the ideological connections of the text in question with any other theories, and above all — with the sociology created by F. Tönnies. In "Foreword", which is filled with references to ideas by major representatives of Chinese, European and Arab cultures and to the social values in their ideological heritage, P.A. Sorokin established the universal character of the social organization types introduced by F. Tönnies — "community and society" ("Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft" in German) — and stated his ideological affiliation to this dichotomy. Thus, the project for the theory of society and social evolution by P.A. Sorokin has been shown to cover both social forms introduced by F. Tönnies. The identified social values, which constitute an independent foundation for Sorokin's theory of society and social evolution, help in developing the gnoseological aspect of his sociology. The writing of F. Tönnies, as well as P.A. Sorokin's "Foreword", defined their era. They include multiple points for incorporating new ideas in order to expand and evolve the theory of modern society.
The published correspondence reveals the professional ties of the RussianAmerican sociologist P.A. Sorokin (1889–1968) and the German publisher and sociologist
Salomon (1892–1964, Salomon-Delatour since 1947). It substantially complements
the knowledge about Sorokin's priorities in professional contacts and scientific interests. In addition to the most complete version of Sorokin's article "Russian Sociology in the Twentieth Century" (1926), published in the Yearbook of Sociology released by Salomon, the accompanying correspondence introduces Sorokin's plans to participate in the preparation of the German editions of the books Leaves from a Russian Diary (1924), The Sociology of Revolution (1925), Social Mobility (1925), Modern Sociological Theories (1928, the German edition came out in 1932), Principles of Rural and Urban Sociology (1929) and Readers on Rural Sociology (1930–1932). Sorokin's plans and articles on the study of genius and leadership, the role of the intelligentsia in society, and issues of book review are discussed. The letters are a testament to Sorokin's sociology starting to receive actual international recognition. The correspondence tells of the impact of the Great Depression (1929–1939) on sociologists' contacts.
The dispute over the construction of a social system theory, which took place in Harvard between P.A. Sorokin (1889–1968) and T. Parsons (1902–1979), is still drawing the attention of historians and theorists of sociology. Both scientists were greatly respected by the scientific community of those times, both had their unique vision on creating a social theory and, of course, each of them claimed priority in the development of their respective system-sociological theory. According to P.A. Sorokin, who in 1951 was promoting his work "Similarities and Dissimilarities Between Two Sociological Systems" among colleagues from his department and beyond it, T. Parsons' essays on the topic of social system theory are suspiciously similar to P.A. Sorokin's lectures and essays — an opinion which in turn was refuted by Parsons. In response to Sorokin's claims, T. Parsons claimed that his theoretical concept had been influenced more by other authors than by P.A. Sorokin. He also pointed to the process of convergence in system theory and highlighted plenty of other differences between their system theories. All researchers noticed the severity of this conflict, but when we look to the circumstances of the end of this conceptual debate, we find that it is not entirely clear whether it was even resolved, and more importantly — how the conflict actually ended. Analysis of this historical case conducted through the lens of Luhmann's communicative theory helps get a clearer understanding of the problem. It allows for separating the conceptual implications of the dispute from its other aspects – personal, career, psychological, institutional aspects — which ultimately allowed looking into the conceptual essence of the conflict. The use of new and previously little-known German archival documents, copies of sociologists' personal letters, journal reviews on sociological theory, journal publications about the conflict allowed to establish the importance of the role played by respected German sociologist L. von Wiese (1876–1969), a personal friend of P.A. Sorokin and an expert in theoretical sociology, in deescalating the conflict and ending the dispute in 1952.
The currently being prepared for publication "Foreword" to F. Tönnies' work "Community and Society" was written by Harvard University professor P.A. Sorokin (1889–1968), who was a Russian/American sociologist. It was first published alongside the English translation of Tönnies' book, issued in New York back in 1940. According to P.A. Sorokin, Tönnies' community and society dichotomy represents a universal categorical description of two opposing forms of social organization. They appear in the social evolution of various civilizations and in the writings of their founders. P.A. Sorokin considered Tönnies to be one of the contemporary successors to the tradition of describing society in such a way. Tönnies' book was ahead of its time. It is mentioned in "Foreword" that the first German edition, published in 1887, did not attract readers' attention. However, when the 20th century came around — this book became a point of reference for German social scientists, as well as for educated individuals among the general public. "Foreword" mentions the reason for its rapid increase in popularity, which turned out to be a rapid and widespread transition from "community" to a "society" based on contractual relations. P.A. Sorokin points out that Tönnies created his essay during a time when the "Gesellschaft type of society" was "triumphantly rooting out the Gemeinschaft". However, even back then Tönnies highlighted the shortcomings of capitalism as a form of social life. The American edition of Tönnies' book, published in 1940, was its first complete translation to a foreign language (the 1927 Japanese edition had been shortened). P.A. Sorokin's "Foreword" to this edition marked the beginning of this writing's worldwide fame. This is the first time "Foreword" has ever been published in Russian. It was not included in the 2002 Russian edition of Tönnies' book. This publication, however, makes up for such an omission in theoretical sociology. The publication together with commentary has been prepared by N.A. Golovin.
