Colin Loader

The Intellectual Development of Karl Mannheim: Culture, Politics, and Planning

Karl Mannheim was a social theorist writing in the first half of this century. Largely inspired by Mannheims own historical sociology of knowledge, Loader presents a thorough and penetrating survey of the entire corpus of his work, as well as discussing that of his contemporaries. He sets Mannheims writings in their historical and intellectual context, thereby giving rise to a new and convincing interpretation of many of his works, particularly the most famous, Ideology and Utopia.

Sociology as political education

German professors and academic intellectuals are often blamed for passivity or complicity in the National Socialist rise to power. Karl Mannheim was a leading representative of a vital minority of university personalities who devoted themselves to making sociology and higher education contribute to democratization. Sociology as Political Education is both an analytical account of Mannheims efforts as well as an illustration of the application of sociological knowledge to the world of practical action. Together with a second biographical volume by the editors, forthcoming next season, it comprisesa complete record of Karl Mannheim in the university life of the Weimar period. The comparatively new discipline of sociology was looked upon with favor by the Weimar Republics reformers of higher education. In advancing its methods Mannheim had first to contend first with prominent and influential figures who attacked sociology as a mere political device to undermine cultural and national values for the sake of narrow interests and partisanship. He then had to meet the objections of fellow sociologists who were convinced that the discipline could prosper only as an area of specialized study with no claim to educational goals beyond the technical reproduction. Finally, he had to separate himself from proponents of politicized sociology. Sociological thought should be rigorous, critical, and attentive to evidence, but, Mannheim argued, its system had to be open and congruent with the ultimate responsibility of human beings for their acts. Loader and Kettler supplement Mannheims groundbreaking volume with previously untranslated Mannheim texts, among them a transcript of his 1930 sociology course in which Mannheim answered his critics and clarified his intentions. Sociology as Political Education is not only of historical significance, but also shows Mannheims relevance for current discussions of academic integrity and politicization. This volume will be of interest to sociologists, cultural historians, and political scientists.

Temporizing with Time Wars Karl Mannheim and Problems of Historical Time

Karl Mannheim’s orientations to time can be plotted between subjectivist and objectivist extremes. The latter corresponds to social engineering, while the former offers the context in which Mannheim uses Hobbes’s primaeval war to imagine the chaotic struggle over time that he hopes to escape. Mannheim’s distinctive achievement is ‘dynamic sociology’, an experimental approach marked by the recognition not only of historicity in social phenomena and concepts but also of the opportunities thereby provided for clarifying meaning on terms congruent with the experiences of contemporary humankind. Mannheim’s initial statement of ‘dynamic sociology’ is refined by his better-known studies of generations, ideologies, and utopias, which specify his awareness of co-existent multiple time worlds. Coordination is left to ad hocmediation. This does not answer Mannheim’s deepest fears and wishes, but he has the discipline to settle for less.

Alfred Weber and the crisis of culture, 1890-1933

PART I. Alfred Weber in the German Empire The Context of Alfred Webers Early Work Early Economic Writings Heidelberg and the Empire, 1907-1917 The Question and Sociology of Culture The Cultural Theory of Politics PART II. Alfred Weber in the Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic and the End of the Discursive Coalition The Sociology of Culture in Weimar Cultural Politics in Weimar Epilogue: Alfred Weber after 1933

Alfred Weber, ‘The Sociological Concept of Culture’

Alfred Weber (1868–1958) was one of the early German formulators of cultural sociology. The address that he gave before the Second Congress of German Sociologists in 1912 was his first formal presentation of the discipline. He wrote that the task of cultural sociology was to examine the relationship of the unilinear, rational, utilitarian process of civilization and organic, vital configurations of culture. The latter attempted to establish meaning for the changes generated by the former. It is translated in its entirety.