Zdeněk R. Nešpor
The Light of Sociology above the Czech Basin
Th?e article examines and critically evaluates the first appearance of sociology on the
Czech stage, in the academic milieu and in intellectual and public discussions. It notes
that this appearance came relatively early and was relatively widespread, in circumstances
that were quite exceptional for a small European nation: from the 1870s and
1880s onwards an intellectual tradition began to take shape that was rich, institutionally
well-rooted, and unique in terms of the quantity of works produced and the
reaction of society. Whether its orientation was more theoretical or aimed towards
social reform, it became an integral part of the public space. Its standard attributes
were considered to be progressiveness, a scientific approach, and social sensitivity.
Its shadow side consisted in the fact that for a long time no precise delimitation
of sociology from a theoretical and methodological viewpoint took place; it served
mainly as a publicity label covering various types of reflection on society and/or
attempts to direct and reform it. ?roughout all this, early Czech sociology remained
primarily an academic discipline, and the real international or historical response to it, manifested in a genuine knowledge and application of its results, was not very substantial,
either. ?e light that Czech sociology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
longed to bring to Czech society enlightened primarily Czech sociology itself and its
protagonists – it did not harm society, but nor did it help it very much.
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