When Baehr met Steffen [Elektronisk resurs] Appraising classicality through the lens of neglect

• Classical sociology has long served as a locus for the discipline's self-understanding, and is a phenomenon increasingly studied in its own right. The growing literature is synthesised in Peter Baehr's renowned framework for scrutinising reception and formation processes. By theorising on the trajectories of multiple classics, Baehr has helped pave the way for sociology’s understanding of how classicality becomes established. This paper deploys this framework in order to appraise neglected work with classicality potential in early sociology, namely the bulky production of Sweden's main candidate for a classic, Gustaf F. Steffen (1864–1929), with special attention given to his magnum opus Sociology: A general theory of society (1910–1911). The analysis exposes some of the conceptual ambiguity in Baehr's framework, while proposing that both the notion of a ‘classic’ and the sole focus on reception and formation need to be expanded. This article also argues that our understanding of classicality could be advanced if we were to distinguish between author, text, and theory, since each of these plays different roles in reception, formation, and neglection processes. 

Ämnesord

Social Sciences  (hsv)

Sociology  (hsv)

Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)  (hsv)

Samhällsvetenskap  (hsv)

Sociologi  (hsv)

Sociologi (exklusive socialt arbete, socialpsykologi och socialantropologi)  (hsv)

Sociologi  (uu)

Sociology  (uu)

Genre

government publication  (marcgt)

Indexterm och SAB-rubrik

classical sociology

sociology of knowledge

history of sociology

sociological theory

intellectual history

reception studies

Swedish sociology

Gustaf Steffen