Abstract
AbstractIn 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.
Highlights
The call for an independent Gesellschaftswissenschaft, met with little approval within the academic field and was resolutely rejected by the humanities and the Staatswissenschaften. This might explain why, some years later, German social scientists such as Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936), Georg Simmel (1958–1918), and Max Weber (1864–1920) avoided the notion “Gesellschaftswissenschaft.” Confronted with the powerful Staatswissenschaften and a widespread anti-sociological attitude, which mainly concerned the sociological concepts from France and England,[3] the early proponents of sociology had to struggle to make their voices heard
The economic, political, social, and cultural developments of the German Reich, which had been founded in 1871, were conducive to the emergence, establishment, and institutionalization of sociology, because the observable dynamics and consequences of condensed and rapid processes of social differentiation, transformation, and modernization lent themselves to a broader analytic perspective—a “sociological optic” so to speak
Society was characterized by an increasing population growth, an intensification of the division of labor, and social differentiation
Summary
The economic, political, social, and cultural developments of the German Reich, which had been founded in 1871, were conducive to the emergence, establishment, and institutionalization of sociology, because the observable dynamics and consequences of condensed and rapid processes of social differentiation, transformation, and modernization lent themselves to a broader analytic perspective—a “sociological optic” so to speak. With the progressing development of modern society, “objective culture” (e.g., technology, science, rights, and scholarship, and art works) expanded dramatically so that individuals are less and less able to subjectively appropriate its elements and creatively exploit them as a means of self-realization or for the development of individuality Simmel investigated this specific antinomy of modern culture in his 1900 book Die Philosophie des Geldes (The Philosophy of Money, Simmel 1989 [1900]). In the last chapters of the book, Simmel describes the radical transformation of modern life brought about by modern monetary culture Characteristics of this transformation are the acceleration of social life, the increasing distancing between people, and a new rhythm of work and life. Weber described this process of rationalization as the “disenchantment of the world.” similar to Simmel, he diagnosed new aesthetic and expressive cultural movements that strived for a “re-enchantment of the world” and that were directed against the process of rationalization.[6]
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