Marginaal: Vijftig jaar sociale wetenschappen aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Een verhaal van succes en teloorgang

Samenvatting

In relation to the 50th anniversary of the social sciences department at the U of Amsterdam, Netherlands, the fundamental changes of the early 1970s & their results are summarized. It is argued that the destiny of the three sections of the department -- (1) general political & social sciences, (2) sociology & cultural anthropology, & (3) social psychology & pedagogy or andragology -- was related less to mere personal incidents than has been suggested in contributions to the 1998 celebratory symposia. Here, an explanation is sought in the way the sections were organized, arguing that Section 1, which was structured very loosely, offered too broad a subject domain, resulting in random, rather than systematic, choices & continuing credibility struggles; in contrast, Section 3 was primarily headed by one professor & fell victim to democratization movements & increasing student numbers. Section 2 was institutionalized by the popularity of Norbert Elias's figuration sociology, & gained credibility by the sociographic foundation in empirical research & was strengthened by hiring influential outsiders. S. Paul