Christian Fleck
Sociology in Austria
Palgrave
2016
Présentation de l'éditeur
Sociology in Austria has been frequently affected by political
developments in the country. This first history of sociology in Austria
examines the impact of the break-up of the Habsburg Empire and of two
consecutive dictatorships, which destroyed academic freedom by means of
forced migration and imprisonment. Even after 1945 the re-established
Second Republic did not dismiss professors promoted during the Nazi
period, and failed to invite exiled academics to return home. The author
argues that the result has been a continuation of favouritism and
conformism, with compliance to political regimes sanctioned at the
expense of meritocracy and that in the light of this chequered past we
should celebrate instances of de-institutionalization.
Christian Fleck is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Graz, Austria.
