British Sociology: An Eyewitness Account

Abstract

This is an idiosyncratic and intensely personal account of British sociology's historical development. In some ways, it extends Halsey's earlier work on his post-war cohort at the London School of Economics (LSE). While at times the story is playfully told, one is aware that the author's aim is to bring biography and social forces together in true C. Wright Mills fashion. 'Tales from the inside' are thus woven together with an analysis of structural change in British society and the academy. Halsey's extensive first-hand knowledge gives him a unique presence. His pages unfold very detailed, often very personal portraits of many sociologists, including Charles Madge, Leonard Hobhouse, Edward Westermarck, Morris Ginsberg, T.H. Marshall, Barbara Wootton, David Glass, Edward Shils, Richard Titmuss, and the famous LSE 'Group of Thirteen'.1 Halsey himself was and is an inspiring role model. Several generations of sociologists were first attracted to the discipline because people like Halsey overstepped the boundaries between social science and policy, and did scholarly work that made a difference. The risk for British sociologists, then and now, is that of being labelled as mere extensions of a political ideology, and therefore not as good social scientists. With some justification, British sociology has seemed to be preoccupied with the intellectual problems of the Labour Party and its more conservative successor, New Labour.